200
DRUNKEN ANGEL
Yoidore tenshi (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1948 / Japan / 98 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Romance
Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Eitarô Shindô, Taiji Tonoyama, Yoshiko Kuga, Chôko Iida
"Despite being Kurosawa's eighth feature, Drunken Angel was the director's first critical success and the first film where he finally 'discovered himself'. The 'existential humanism' which made him famous is at the root of this extraordinary tale with a correlation between strength of spirit and physical well-being representing the two forces at work in post-war Japan." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
Yoidore tenshi (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1948 / Japan / 98 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Romance
Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Eitarô Shindô, Taiji Tonoyama, Yoshiko Kuga, Chôko Iida
"Despite being Kurosawa's eighth feature, Drunken Angel was the director's first critical success and the first film where he finally 'discovered himself'. The 'existential humanism' which made him famous is at the root of this extraordinary tale with a correlation between strength of spirit and physical well-being representing the two forces at work in post-war Japan." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
199
DRY SUMMER
Susuz Yaz (original title)
Metin Erksan
1963 / Turkey / 90 min / BW / Drama
Erol Tas, Hülya Koçyigit, Ulvi Dogan, Hakki Haktan, Zeki Tüney, Alaettin Altiok, Yavuz Yalinkiliç
"The film is pure melodrama, with Osman’s pride broken up with shots of Hasan constantly bedding his new bride, Bahar (Hülya Koçyiğit) and the brotherly strife leading to almost ludicrous ruin, but Erksan’s direction never settles too long on classical framing. Instead of fully static, intercut shots or smooth tracks, Erksan spends many shots panning after any movement or dialogue, adding a percussive visual punch to every gesture and line." - Jake Cole
IMDB
Susuz Yaz (original title)
Metin Erksan
1963 / Turkey / 90 min / BW / Drama
Erol Tas, Hülya Koçyigit, Ulvi Dogan, Hakki Haktan, Zeki Tüney, Alaettin Altiok, Yavuz Yalinkiliç
"The film is pure melodrama, with Osman’s pride broken up with shots of Hasan constantly bedding his new bride, Bahar (Hülya Koçyiğit) and the brotherly strife leading to almost ludicrous ruin, but Erksan’s direction never settles too long on classical framing. Instead of fully static, intercut shots or smooth tracks, Erksan spends many shots panning after any movement or dialogue, adding a percussive visual punch to every gesture and line." - Jake Cole
IMDB
198
NORTHERN ELEGY
Aijo no keifu (original title)
Heinosuke Gosho
1957 / Japan / 116 min / BW / Drama
Yoshiko Kuga, Masayuki Mori, Mieko Takamine, Fumio Watanabe, Akira Ishihama, Tatsuo Saitô, Kumeko Urabe, Chikako Kaga
"Elegy of the North lives up to its name in singing a long and painful song of mourning, but Gosho ends on a note of hopeful, if pained, optimism for his contrary heroine, literally forced to move past the scene of her crime towards a possibly happier future." - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
Aijo no keifu (original title)
Heinosuke Gosho
1957 / Japan / 116 min / BW / Drama
Yoshiko Kuga, Masayuki Mori, Mieko Takamine, Fumio Watanabe, Akira Ishihama, Tatsuo Saitô, Kumeko Urabe, Chikako Kaga
"Elegy of the North lives up to its name in singing a long and painful song of mourning, but Gosho ends on a note of hopeful, if pained, optimism for his contrary heroine, literally forced to move past the scene of her crime towards a possibly happier future." - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
197
BADLANDS
Terrence Malick
1973 / US / 82 min / Color / Crime, Drama
Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint, Gary Littlejohn, John Carter
"One of the glories of Badlands, brightening over time, is the absolute rightness of the casting: Martin Sheen as the laconic killer, Sissy Spacek as the scrawny schoolgirl who considers him “handsomer than anybody I’d ever met.” Neither actor had shouldered a leading role before; they look endearingly young, and everything about their movements and mannerisms... feels perfectly calibrated, as a great deal of the film’s unsettling power derives from the characters’ sustained earnestness and charm." - Michael Almereyda
IMDB
Terrence Malick
1973 / US / 82 min / Color / Crime, Drama
Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint, Gary Littlejohn, John Carter
"One of the glories of Badlands, brightening over time, is the absolute rightness of the casting: Martin Sheen as the laconic killer, Sissy Spacek as the scrawny schoolgirl who considers him “handsomer than anybody I’d ever met.” Neither actor had shouldered a leading role before; they look endearingly young, and everything about their movements and mannerisms... feels perfectly calibrated, as a great deal of the film’s unsettling power derives from the characters’ sustained earnestness and charm." - Michael Almereyda
IMDB
196
THE BIG CITY
Mahanagar (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1963 / India / 136 min / BW / Drama
Anil Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Jaya Bhaduri, Haren Chatterjee, Sefalika Devi, Prasenjit Sarkar, Haradhan Bannerjee, Vicky Redwood
"Ray perches the film on the front lines of history, and he captures with visual incisiveness and dramatic precision the vast political implications of intimate changes. Part of that power is derived from the city itself, where rounds of unexpected encounters and overlapping relationships give minor impacts major echoes." - Richard Brody
IMDB
Mahanagar (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1963 / India / 136 min / BW / Drama
Anil Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Jaya Bhaduri, Haren Chatterjee, Sefalika Devi, Prasenjit Sarkar, Haradhan Bannerjee, Vicky Redwood
"Ray perches the film on the front lines of history, and he captures with visual incisiveness and dramatic precision the vast political implications of intimate changes. Part of that power is derived from the city itself, where rounds of unexpected encounters and overlapping relationships give minor impacts major echoes." - Richard Brody
IMDB
195
APOCALYPSE NOW
Francis Ford Coppola
1979 / US / 196 min / Color / Drama, War
Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper
"Remember the weird beauty of the massed helicopters lifting over the trees in the long shot, and the insane power of Wagner's music, played loudly during the attack, and you feel what Coppola was getting at: Those moments as common in life as art, when the whole huge grand mystery of the world, so terrible, so beautiful, seems to hang in the balance." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
Francis Ford Coppola
1979 / US / 196 min / Color / Drama, War
Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper
"Remember the weird beauty of the massed helicopters lifting over the trees in the long shot, and the insane power of Wagner's music, played loudly during the attack, and you feel what Coppola was getting at: Those moments as common in life as art, when the whole huge grand mystery of the world, so terrible, so beautiful, seems to hang in the balance." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
194
NOBUKO
Hiroshi Shimizu
1940 / Japan / 90 min / BW / Drama
Shinobu Aoki, Mitsuko Higashiyama, Shin'ichi Himori, Chôko Iida, Yaeko Izumo, Yumiko Kato, Tsuruko Kumoi
"An unusual effort for the time in that only two male characters appear (one a burglar Nobuko heroically ejects assuming him to be Eiko playing a prank, and the other Eiko’s father) this entirely female led drama neatly highlights the various problems faced by women of all social classes whilst also emphasising Shimizu’s core humanist philosophies where compassion and understanding are found to be essential components of a fully functioning society." - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
Hiroshi Shimizu
1940 / Japan / 90 min / BW / Drama
Shinobu Aoki, Mitsuko Higashiyama, Shin'ichi Himori, Chôko Iida, Yaeko Izumo, Yumiko Kato, Tsuruko Kumoi
"An unusual effort for the time in that only two male characters appear (one a burglar Nobuko heroically ejects assuming him to be Eiko playing a prank, and the other Eiko’s father) this entirely female led drama neatly highlights the various problems faced by women of all social classes whilst also emphasising Shimizu’s core humanist philosophies where compassion and understanding are found to be essential components of a fully functioning society." - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
193
THE FLAVOUR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE
Ochazuke no aj (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1952 / Japan / 116 min / BW / Drama
Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Kôji Tsuruta, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima, Keiko Tsushima, Kuniko Miyake, Eijirô Yanagi
"In the U.S., it isn't revived as often as most other films from Ozu's long run of postwar masterpieces, but that's not to say it's a minor work. It features some of the most remarkable tonal shifts in Ozu's filmography, moving so gracefully from comedy to psychodrama to melodrama that one doesn't recognize the changes as such. It also contains some of the director's most dynamic black-and-white images, which play on and with modernist interior design to fabulous, spatially complicated effect." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Ochazuke no aj (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1952 / Japan / 116 min / BW / Drama
Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Kôji Tsuruta, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima, Keiko Tsushima, Kuniko Miyake, Eijirô Yanagi
"In the U.S., it isn't revived as often as most other films from Ozu's long run of postwar masterpieces, but that's not to say it's a minor work. It features some of the most remarkable tonal shifts in Ozu's filmography, moving so gracefully from comedy to psychodrama to melodrama that one doesn't recognize the changes as such. It also contains some of the director's most dynamic black-and-white images, which play on and with modernist interior design to fabulous, spatially complicated effect." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
192
ASHES OF TIME
Dung che sai duk (original title)
Wong Kar-Wai
1994 / Hong Kong / 93 min / Color / Action, Drama
Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carina Lau, Charlie Yeung, Maggie Cheung
"Ashes of Time is neither the greatest nor the most accessible Wong film I’ve seen — Days of Being Wild (1991) is better, and Chungking Express is more accessible. But it’s certainly the wildest as well as the grandest in scale, and it probably bears greater witness to some of the recent changes in Chinese cinema." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Dung che sai duk (original title)
Wong Kar-Wai
1994 / Hong Kong / 93 min / Color / Action, Drama
Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carina Lau, Charlie Yeung, Maggie Cheung
"Ashes of Time is neither the greatest nor the most accessible Wong film I’ve seen — Days of Being Wild (1991) is better, and Chungking Express is more accessible. But it’s certainly the wildest as well as the grandest in scale, and it probably bears greater witness to some of the recent changes in Chinese cinema." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
191
THE WAYWARD CLOUD
Tian bian yi duo yun (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
2005 / Taiwan / 114 min / Color / Drama
Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, Lu Yi-ching, Yang Kuei-mei, Sumomo Yozakura
"Minimally plotted, circuitous and deeply strange, it is a film that springs some wholly unexpected and/or demented image on us at least every couple of minutes... [The] musical sequences have a curious, otherworldly rhythm, as if acted out in slow motion then speeded back up to regular pace in the edit. They are totally nuts, but will still leave you unprepared for the riskiness – the brazen, eye-widening shock value – of the set piece Tsai inflicts at the end." - Tim Robey
IMDB
Tian bian yi duo yun (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
2005 / Taiwan / 114 min / Color / Drama
Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, Lu Yi-ching, Yang Kuei-mei, Sumomo Yozakura
"Minimally plotted, circuitous and deeply strange, it is a film that springs some wholly unexpected and/or demented image on us at least every couple of minutes... [The] musical sequences have a curious, otherworldly rhythm, as if acted out in slow motion then speeded back up to regular pace in the edit. They are totally nuts, but will still leave you unprepared for the riskiness – the brazen, eye-widening shock value – of the set piece Tsai inflicts at the end." - Tim Robey
IMDB
190
SYNDROME AND A CENTURY
Sang sattawat (original title)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2006 / Thailand / 105 min / Color / Drama
Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sophon Pukanok, Jenjira Pongpas, Arkanae Cherkam, Sakda Kaewbuadee, Nu Nimsomboon
"The more you pinpoint the film's central dualities - female/male, country/city, sunlight/electric light, then/now and so on - the more it starts to sound like one of Apichatpong's gallery pieces or installations: an art object rather than a movie. The paradox is that it plays just fine in the cinema. This is partly down to the film's humour and the rhythms of its pacing and editing, which make it richer and more rewarding at a purely sensual level than the average mainstream movie." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
Sang sattawat (original title)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2006 / Thailand / 105 min / Color / Drama
Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sophon Pukanok, Jenjira Pongpas, Arkanae Cherkam, Sakda Kaewbuadee, Nu Nimsomboon
"The more you pinpoint the film's central dualities - female/male, country/city, sunlight/electric light, then/now and so on - the more it starts to sound like one of Apichatpong's gallery pieces or installations: an art object rather than a movie. The paradox is that it plays just fine in the cinema. This is partly down to the film's humour and the rhythms of its pacing and editing, which make it richer and more rewarding at a purely sensual level than the average mainstream movie." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
189
THE MAN FROM LONDON
A londoni férfi (original title)
Béla Tarr
2007 / Hungary / 139 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Mystery
Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton, Erika Bók, János Derzsi, Ági Szirtes, István Lénárt, Gyula Pauer, Mihály Kormos
"It’s a film about looking and listening, with a suggestive minimalist soundtrack and ravishing black-and-white cinematography by German filmmaker Fred Kelemen. Tarr’s slow-as-molasses camera movements and endlessly protracted takes generate a trancelike sense of wonder, giving us time to think and always implying far more than they show." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
A londoni férfi (original title)
Béla Tarr
2007 / Hungary / 139 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Mystery
Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton, Erika Bók, János Derzsi, Ági Szirtes, István Lénárt, Gyula Pauer, Mihály Kormos
"It’s a film about looking and listening, with a suggestive minimalist soundtrack and ravishing black-and-white cinematography by German filmmaker Fred Kelemen. Tarr’s slow-as-molasses camera movements and endlessly protracted takes generate a trancelike sense of wonder, giving us time to think and always implying far more than they show." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
188
THE MAGICIAN
Ansiktet (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1958 / Sweden / 107 min / BW / Comedy, Drama
Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Naima Wifstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson, Gertrud Fridh, Lars Ekborg, Toivo Pawlo, Erland Josephson
"In its shifty conflation of genres and moods, as well as its ability to entrance even as it debunks, The Magician is a compelling and witty fable about the irresistible powers of art and shows that Bergman was not only obsessed with self-exposure, as he alleged was true of Ibsen, but was not above self-mockery." - Tony Pipolo
IMDB
Ansiktet (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1958 / Sweden / 107 min / BW / Comedy, Drama
Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Naima Wifstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson, Gertrud Fridh, Lars Ekborg, Toivo Pawlo, Erland Josephson
"In its shifty conflation of genres and moods, as well as its ability to entrance even as it debunks, The Magician is a compelling and witty fable about the irresistible powers of art and shows that Bergman was not only obsessed with self-exposure, as he alleged was true of Ibsen, but was not above self-mockery." - Tony Pipolo
IMDB
187
MULHOLLAND DR.
David Lynch
2001 / US / 147 min / Color / Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Naomi Watts, Jeanne Bates, Dan Birnbaum, Laura Harring, Randall Wulff, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe, Maya Bond
"While it's tempting to think that Lynch has simply lost control of his vision yet again, the film is so densely layered and seductive that it's hard to pull away completely, even when it stops making rational sense. Recognizing the futility of bringing material for an untold number of television episodes to a neat and satisfying conclusion, Lynch has done the next best thing, pushing the audience deeper and deeper into his subconscious tangles." - Scott Tobias
IMDB
David Lynch
2001 / US / 147 min / Color / Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Naomi Watts, Jeanne Bates, Dan Birnbaum, Laura Harring, Randall Wulff, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe, Maya Bond
"While it's tempting to think that Lynch has simply lost control of his vision yet again, the film is so densely layered and seductive that it's hard to pull away completely, even when it stops making rational sense. Recognizing the futility of bringing material for an untold number of television episodes to a neat and satisfying conclusion, Lynch has done the next best thing, pushing the audience deeper and deeper into his subconscious tangles." - Scott Tobias
IMDB
186
THE VIRGIN SPRING
Jungfrukällan (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1960 / Sweden / 89 min / BW / Drama
Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Düberg, Tor Isedal, Allan Edwall
"The winner of the "best foreign picture" Academy Award, The Virgin Spring currently exists in several versions of varying lengths; the longest, and most graphic, is the original Swedish cut. Believe it or not, this hauntingly beautiful film served as the basis of The Last House on the Left (1972)." - Barnes and Noble
IMDB
Jungfrukällan (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1960 / Sweden / 89 min / BW / Drama
Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Düberg, Tor Isedal, Allan Edwall
"The winner of the "best foreign picture" Academy Award, The Virgin Spring currently exists in several versions of varying lengths; the longest, and most graphic, is the original Swedish cut. Believe it or not, this hauntingly beautiful film served as the basis of The Last House on the Left (1972)." - Barnes and Noble
IMDB
185
ONLY YESTERDAY
Omohide poro poro (original title)
Isao Takahata
1991 / Japan / 118 min / Color / Animation, Drama, Romance
Miki Imai, Toshirô Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Mayumi Izuka, Mei Oshitani, Megumi Komine, Yukiyo Takizawa, Masashi Ishikawa
"Only Yesterday can sometimes seem a little too random in what it chooses to show, but it has a cumulative power as Taeko comes to understand that the past that shaped her needn’t define her. That’s a remarkably sophisticated theme for any film, let alone a cartoon. But then what else should we expect from a filmmaker so precise that he’d spend five minutes describing the exact texture and taste of a piece of fruit?" - Noel Murray
IMDB
Omohide poro poro (original title)
Isao Takahata
1991 / Japan / 118 min / Color / Animation, Drama, Romance
Miki Imai, Toshirô Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Mayumi Izuka, Mei Oshitani, Megumi Komine, Yukiyo Takizawa, Masashi Ishikawa
"Only Yesterday can sometimes seem a little too random in what it chooses to show, but it has a cumulative power as Taeko comes to understand that the past that shaped her needn’t define her. That’s a remarkably sophisticated theme for any film, let alone a cartoon. But then what else should we expect from a filmmaker so precise that he’d spend five minutes describing the exact texture and taste of a piece of fruit?" - Noel Murray
IMDB
184
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Kôkaku Kidôtai (original title)
Mamoru Oshii
1995 / Japan / 83 min / Color / Animation, Action, Crime
Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano, Tamio Ohki, Tesshô Genda, Namaki Masakazu, Masato Yamanouchi
"The distinctly cinematic nature of Oshii’s poetics comes out most strongly in the elaborate montage sequences that occur at least once in each of his films from Patlabor onwards. These dialogue-free sequences are filled with shots of spaces and characters that, while only tangentially related to the main narrative, encapsulate the overall thematic and aesthetic concerns of the given film, recasting them in an abstract, symbolic key." - Richard Suchenski
IMDB
Kôkaku Kidôtai (original title)
Mamoru Oshii
1995 / Japan / 83 min / Color / Animation, Action, Crime
Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano, Tamio Ohki, Tesshô Genda, Namaki Masakazu, Masato Yamanouchi
"The distinctly cinematic nature of Oshii’s poetics comes out most strongly in the elaborate montage sequences that occur at least once in each of his films from Patlabor onwards. These dialogue-free sequences are filled with shots of spaces and characters that, while only tangentially related to the main narrative, encapsulate the overall thematic and aesthetic concerns of the given film, recasting them in an abstract, symbolic key." - Richard Suchenski
IMDB
183
THE GODDESS
Shen nu (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1934 / China / 85 min / BW / Drama
Ruan Lingyu, Zhang Zhizhi, Keng Li, Tian Jian
"The great actress Ruan Lingyu earned international acclaim for her powerful performances in a series of social dramas made between 1927 and 1935. Her success brought her much fame that caused her to commit suicide at the age of 24. In The Goddess (1934), Ruan Lingyu portrays a single mother whose only hope for supporting her son is to submit to a life of prostitution. The film is a heartbreaking look at life under the strictures of an intolerant society." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
Shen nu (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1934 / China / 85 min / BW / Drama
Ruan Lingyu, Zhang Zhizhi, Keng Li, Tian Jian
"The great actress Ruan Lingyu earned international acclaim for her powerful performances in a series of social dramas made between 1927 and 1935. Her success brought her much fame that caused her to commit suicide at the age of 24. In The Goddess (1934), Ruan Lingyu portrays a single mother whose only hope for supporting her son is to submit to a life of prostitution. The film is a heartbreaking look at life under the strictures of an intolerant society." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
182
EARLY SPRING
Sôshun (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1956 / Japan / 145 min / BW / Drama
Chikage Awashima, Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi, Keiko Kishi, Chishû Ryû, Sô Yamamura, Haruko Sugimura, Kumeko Urabe, Kuniko Miyake, Eijirô Tôno, Kôji Mitsui
"Amid the quietly terrifying stresses, Sugiyama’s romance with a secretary nicknamed Goldfish serves as just another form of intoxication. Ozu’s despairing view of postwar Japan looks as harshly at blind modernization as it does at decadent tradition." - Richard Brody
IMDB
Sôshun (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1956 / Japan / 145 min / BW / Drama
Chikage Awashima, Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi, Keiko Kishi, Chishû Ryû, Sô Yamamura, Haruko Sugimura, Kumeko Urabe, Kuniko Miyake, Eijirô Tôno, Kôji Mitsui
"Amid the quietly terrifying stresses, Sugiyama’s romance with a secretary nicknamed Goldfish serves as just another form of intoxication. Ozu’s despairing view of postwar Japan looks as harshly at blind modernization as it does at decadent tradition." - Richard Brody
IMDB
181
PURPLE NOON
Plein soleil (original title)
René Clément
1960 / France / 118 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Thriller
Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforêt, Erno Crisa, Frank Latimore, Billy Kearns, Ave Ninchi
"The gorgeous cinematography (beginning with a credit sequence in which a recognizable Rome, seen from above, appears dipped in a series of intense colors) is only one aspect of the filmic beauty. Equally important is the casting: the luscious Alain Delon as Ripley, the hunky Maurice Ronet as Greenleaf, and even the seductive Marie Laforêt as Marge—the sole female character of note, who in Highsmith’s version is merely a gourd-shaped loudmouth aspiring to be Greenleaf’s steady girlfriend." - Wendy Lesser
IMDB
Plein soleil (original title)
René Clément
1960 / France / 118 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Thriller
Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforêt, Erno Crisa, Frank Latimore, Billy Kearns, Ave Ninchi
"The gorgeous cinematography (beginning with a credit sequence in which a recognizable Rome, seen from above, appears dipped in a series of intense colors) is only one aspect of the filmic beauty. Equally important is the casting: the luscious Alain Delon as Ripley, the hunky Maurice Ronet as Greenleaf, and even the seductive Marie Laforêt as Marge—the sole female character of note, who in Highsmith’s version is merely a gourd-shaped loudmouth aspiring to be Greenleaf’s steady girlfriend." - Wendy Lesser
IMDB
180
GOOD MORNING
Ohayou (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1959 / Japan / 94 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Miyake, Haruko Sugimura, Kôji Shitara, Toyo
"Teacup tempests are usually not enough – it depends upon how much cream and sugar are added. Ozu, however, dispenses with both and, adding lemon, has created one of the funniest indictments of Japanese suburban life since Kinoshita's horrid family stormed and romped its way across the screen in the 1957 Fuzen no Tomoshibi (Candle in the Wind). What is more, Ozu and scenarist Kogo Noda – who have worked together since 1927 – have created a completely charming comedy of Japanese manners." - Donald Richie
IMDB
Ohayou (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1959 / Japan / 94 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Miyake, Haruko Sugimura, Kôji Shitara, Toyo
"Teacup tempests are usually not enough – it depends upon how much cream and sugar are added. Ozu, however, dispenses with both and, adding lemon, has created one of the funniest indictments of Japanese suburban life since Kinoshita's horrid family stormed and romped its way across the screen in the 1957 Fuzen no Tomoshibi (Candle in the Wind). What is more, Ozu and scenarist Kogo Noda – who have worked together since 1927 – have created a completely charming comedy of Japanese manners." - Donald Richie
IMDB
179
DEEP END
Jerzy Skolimowski
1970 / UK, West Germany / 92 min / Color / Drama, Romance
Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, Karl Michael Vogler, Christopher Sandford, Diana Dors, Louise Martini, Cheryl Hall, Christine Paul
"The camera has the same dynamic attitude as Mike, the hero, and captures all his weird teenage ticks that make him so human in this story of manipulation and casual cruelty. The relentless editing never lets a scene truly end before moving on to a new one, as if all these people were animals in a jungle, constantly on the run from each other or pursuing new preys." - Mani Lazic
IMDB
Jerzy Skolimowski
1970 / UK, West Germany / 92 min / Color / Drama, Romance
Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, Karl Michael Vogler, Christopher Sandford, Diana Dors, Louise Martini, Cheryl Hall, Christine Paul
"The camera has the same dynamic attitude as Mike, the hero, and captures all his weird teenage ticks that make him so human in this story of manipulation and casual cruelty. The relentless editing never lets a scene truly end before moving on to a new one, as if all these people were animals in a jungle, constantly on the run from each other or pursuing new preys." - Mani Lazic
IMDB
178
HOUR OF THE WOLF
Vargtimmen (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1968 / Sweden / 90 min / BW / Drama, Horror
Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg, Erland Josephson, Naima Wifstrand, Ulf Johansson, Gudrun Brost
" Yet there are new departures, too—the dizzying revolve by Nykvist's camera around the dinner-table, the hideous ambivalence of the murder scene, the startling levitation of the Baron (a joke that is delicately capped by von Sydow's nervous glance at the ceiling as he hurries on his way), the jump-cuts with the firing of the gun, the rapturous Lester-style burst of sunlight on the lens as Veronica flings herself into her lover's arms. 'Awful things can happen,' she murmurs. 'Dreams can be revealed.' Nightmares as well, it seems. In the hour before dawn, Bergman's imagination remains the finest, and the most disturbing, of all the cinema's modern visionaries." - Philip Strick
IMDB
Vargtimmen (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1968 / Sweden / 90 min / BW / Drama, Horror
Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg, Erland Josephson, Naima Wifstrand, Ulf Johansson, Gudrun Brost
" Yet there are new departures, too—the dizzying revolve by Nykvist's camera around the dinner-table, the hideous ambivalence of the murder scene, the startling levitation of the Baron (a joke that is delicately capped by von Sydow's nervous glance at the ceiling as he hurries on his way), the jump-cuts with the firing of the gun, the rapturous Lester-style burst of sunlight on the lens as Veronica flings herself into her lover's arms. 'Awful things can happen,' she murmurs. 'Dreams can be revealed.' Nightmares as well, it seems. In the hour before dawn, Bergman's imagination remains the finest, and the most disturbing, of all the cinema's modern visionaries." - Philip Strick
IMDB
177
THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE
John Huston
1948 / US / 126 min / BW / Adventure, Drama, Western
Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya, Arturo Soto Rangel, Manuel Dondé, José Torvay
"The camera is always where it ought to be, never imposes on or exploits or over-dramatizes its subject, never for an instant shoves beauty or special meaning at you. This is one of the most visually alive and beautiful movies I have ever seen; there is a wonderful flow of fresh air, light, vigor, and liberty through every shot, and a fine athlete's litheness and absolute control and flexibility in every succession and series of shots." - James Agee
IMDB
John Huston
1948 / US / 126 min / BW / Adventure, Drama, Western
Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya, Arturo Soto Rangel, Manuel Dondé, José Torvay
"The camera is always where it ought to be, never imposes on or exploits or over-dramatizes its subject, never for an instant shoves beauty or special meaning at you. This is one of the most visually alive and beautiful movies I have ever seen; there is a wonderful flow of fresh air, light, vigor, and liberty through every shot, and a fine athlete's litheness and absolute control and flexibility in every succession and series of shots." - James Agee
IMDB
176
L'AVVENTURA
Michelangelo Antonioni
1960 / Italy / 143 min / BW / Drama, Mystery
Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar, Renzo Ricci, James Addams, Dorothy De Poliolo, Lelio Luttazzi
"...Every shot and bit of business on L'Avventura represent calculation of the highest order. The characteristic Antonioni image consists of two or more characters within the frame not looking at each other. They may be separated by space, mood, interest, but the point comes across, and the imposing cinematic theme of communication is brilliantly demonstrated." - Andrew Sarris
IMDB
Michelangelo Antonioni
1960 / Italy / 143 min / BW / Drama, Mystery
Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar, Renzo Ricci, James Addams, Dorothy De Poliolo, Lelio Luttazzi
"...Every shot and bit of business on L'Avventura represent calculation of the highest order. The characteristic Antonioni image consists of two or more characters within the frame not looking at each other. They may be separated by space, mood, interest, but the point comes across, and the imposing cinematic theme of communication is brilliantly demonstrated." - Andrew Sarris
IMDB
175
REAR WINDOW
Alfred Hitchcock
1954 / US / 112 min / Color / Mystery, Thriller
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Judith Evelyn, Ross Bagdasarian, Sara Berner
"What do Hitchcock’s comic strips add up to? All the little stories about the people around the courtyard — who also include a honeymoon couple with a sexually insatiable wife who keeps calling her husband back to bed, a recurring gag few other Hollywood directors could have got away with in 1954; an avant-garde woman sculptor; and a love-starved single woman — are variations on a theme concerning what it means to be part of a couple or to live alone, both situations being viewed darkly." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Alfred Hitchcock
1954 / US / 112 min / Color / Mystery, Thriller
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Judith Evelyn, Ross Bagdasarian, Sara Berner
"What do Hitchcock’s comic strips add up to? All the little stories about the people around the courtyard — who also include a honeymoon couple with a sexually insatiable wife who keeps calling her husband back to bed, a recurring gag few other Hollywood directors could have got away with in 1954; an avant-garde woman sculptor; and a love-starved single woman — are variations on a theme concerning what it means to be part of a couple or to live alone, both situations being viewed darkly." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
174
DEATH BY HANGING
Kôshikei (original title)
Nagisa Ôshima
1968 / Japan / 117 min / BW / Comedy, Crime, Drama
Kei Satô, Do-yun Yu, Fumio Watanabe, Hôsei Komatsu, Rokkô Toura, Toshirô Ishidô, Masao Adachi, Masao Matsuda
"All of Oshima's films deal in a challenging and committed way with specifically Japanese questions and problems. Death by Hanging is an 'absurd' comedy about the situation of Korean immigrants in Japan, centering on a state execution that goes wrong, mounted as a sort of witty Brechtian argument." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
Kôshikei (original title)
Nagisa Ôshima
1968 / Japan / 117 min / BW / Comedy, Crime, Drama
Kei Satô, Do-yun Yu, Fumio Watanabe, Hôsei Komatsu, Rokkô Toura, Toshirô Ishidô, Masao Adachi, Masao Matsuda
"All of Oshima's films deal in a challenging and committed way with specifically Japanese questions and problems. Death by Hanging is an 'absurd' comedy about the situation of Korean immigrants in Japan, centering on a state execution that goes wrong, mounted as a sort of witty Brechtian argument." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
173
THE WAGES OF FEAR
Le salaire de la peur (original title)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
1953 / France / 131 min / BW / Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot, William Tubbs, Darío Moreno, Jo Dest, Antonio Centa
"Like There Will Be Blood, the film captures the obsession and mania that seem like an inevitable byproduct in the quest for oil. Though THE WAGES OF FEAR isn't an explicitly political film, it is decidedly anti-American, offering a critique of corporate imperialism, indigenous exploitation, and a division of labor in which (for the underclass) work and death are essentially one and the same." - Harrison Sherrod
IMDB
Le salaire de la peur (original title)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
1953 / France / 131 min / BW / Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot, William Tubbs, Darío Moreno, Jo Dest, Antonio Centa
"Like There Will Be Blood, the film captures the obsession and mania that seem like an inevitable byproduct in the quest for oil. Though THE WAGES OF FEAR isn't an explicitly political film, it is decidedly anti-American, offering a critique of corporate imperialism, indigenous exploitation, and a division of labor in which (for the underclass) work and death are essentially one and the same." - Harrison Sherrod
IMDB
172
THE ONLY SON
Hitori musuko (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1936 / Japan / 87 min / BW / Drama
Chôko Iida, Shin'ichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Chishû Ryû, Tomoko Naniwa
"Ozu’s style, already in its ascetic mature phase, presents [the son's] struggle plainly and directly, heightening the effect of its sting. Yet the film is hardly a downer; indeed, it’s full of the director’s gentle, self-reflective humor." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Hitori musuko (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1936 / Japan / 87 min / BW / Drama
Chôko Iida, Shin'ichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Chishû Ryû, Tomoko Naniwa
"Ozu’s style, already in its ascetic mature phase, presents [the son's] struggle plainly and directly, heightening the effect of its sting. Yet the film is hardly a downer; indeed, it’s full of the director’s gentle, self-reflective humor." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
171
THE TAKING OF POWER BY LOUIS XIV
La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (original title)
Roberto Rossellini
1966 / France / 90 min / Color / Biography, History
Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, César Silvagni, Katharina Renn, Dominique Vincent, Pierre Barrat, Fernand Fabre, Françoise Ponty
"If television weren’t the mushy disaster to which we are all too well accustomed, it would more often accommodate images like those of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966) and everybody would be happy. What’s most extraordinary is not that Rossellini’s TV film should be regarded as a great film and a great moment in French television history, what’s most extraordinary is that Rossellini’s lesson has been neither replayed nor understood, nor studied in the slightest." - Via Laurent Kretzschmar
IMDB
La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (original title)
Roberto Rossellini
1966 / France / 90 min / Color / Biography, History
Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, César Silvagni, Katharina Renn, Dominique Vincent, Pierre Barrat, Fernand Fabre, Françoise Ponty
"If television weren’t the mushy disaster to which we are all too well accustomed, it would more often accommodate images like those of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966) and everybody would be happy. What’s most extraordinary is not that Rossellini’s TV film should be regarded as a great film and a great moment in French television history, what’s most extraordinary is that Rossellini’s lesson has been neither replayed nor understood, nor studied in the slightest." - Via Laurent Kretzschmar
IMDB
170
VAMPYR
Carl Theodor Dreyer
1932 / Germany / 83 min / BW / Fantasy, Horror
Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard
"The greatness of Carl Dreyer’s first sound film (1932, 82 min.) derives partly from its handling of the vampire theme in terms of sexuality and eroticism and partly from its highly distinctive, dreamy look, but it also has something to do with Dreyer’s radical recasting of narrative form. While never less than mesmerizing, it confounds conventions for establishing point of view and continuity, inventing a narrative language all its own." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Carl Theodor Dreyer
1932 / Germany / 83 min / BW / Fantasy, Horror
Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard
"The greatness of Carl Dreyer’s first sound film (1932, 82 min.) derives partly from its handling of the vampire theme in terms of sexuality and eroticism and partly from its highly distinctive, dreamy look, but it also has something to do with Dreyer’s radical recasting of narrative form. While never less than mesmerizing, it confounds conventions for establishing point of view and continuity, inventing a narrative language all its own." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
169
FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE
Per qualche dollaro in più (original title)
Sergio Leone
1965 / Italy, Spain, West Gemany / 132 min / Color / Western
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli, Aldo Sambrell, Klaus Kinski
"The second film in Leone's Dollar trilogy finds the Italian director in better form than in A Fistful of Dollars. For a Few Dollars More has better writing, superior production values, and more characters who aptly complement Eastwood's stoic Man with No Name." - TV Guide
IMDB
Per qualche dollaro in più (original title)
Sergio Leone
1965 / Italy, Spain, West Gemany / 132 min / Color / Western
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli, Aldo Sambrell, Klaus Kinski
"The second film in Leone's Dollar trilogy finds the Italian director in better form than in A Fistful of Dollars. For a Few Dollars More has better writing, superior production values, and more characters who aptly complement Eastwood's stoic Man with No Name." - TV Guide
IMDB
168
THREE MONKEYS
Üç Maymun (original title)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2008 / Turkey / 109 min / Color / Drama
Yavuz Bingöl, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal, Cafer Köse, Gürkan Aydin
"...A hit-and-run follows, but we don’t see the hit—only the run. This is not only a film of slow reveals, but also one whose more dramatic moments happen off-screen. It’s an internal drama propelled by external events, about the consequences of masking over mistakes: Three Monkeys is a kind of anti-thriller, whose opening shot masterfully sets both the tone and theme for what is to come." - Michael Pattison
IMDB
Üç Maymun (original title)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2008 / Turkey / 109 min / Color / Drama
Yavuz Bingöl, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal, Cafer Köse, Gürkan Aydin
"...A hit-and-run follows, but we don’t see the hit—only the run. This is not only a film of slow reveals, but also one whose more dramatic moments happen off-screen. It’s an internal drama propelled by external events, about the consequences of masking over mistakes: Three Monkeys is a kind of anti-thriller, whose opening shot masterfully sets both the tone and theme for what is to come." - Michael Pattison
IMDB
167
LADY SNOWBLOOD
Shurayukihime (original title)
Toshiya Fujita
1973 / Japan / 97 min / Color / Action, Drama, Thriller
Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza, Shinichi Uchida, Takeo Chii, Noboru Nakaya, Yoshiko Nakada, Akemi Negishi
"An aria of arterial spray, gushing in myriad patterns against a variety of white fabrics. It takes Jean-Luc Godard’s tossed off comment that the blood in Pierrot Le Fou (1965) is “Not blood” but “red” to its logical conclusion, a festival of artfully composed throat-slittings and torso hackings. Blood spits out of human bodies like when Mentos are dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke. It frames killing as pure artifice, executed with impassive grace by the beautiful Meiko Kaji." - R. Emmet Sweeney
IMDB
Shurayukihime (original title)
Toshiya Fujita
1973 / Japan / 97 min / Color / Action, Drama, Thriller
Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza, Shinichi Uchida, Takeo Chii, Noboru Nakaya, Yoshiko Nakada, Akemi Negishi
"An aria of arterial spray, gushing in myriad patterns against a variety of white fabrics. It takes Jean-Luc Godard’s tossed off comment that the blood in Pierrot Le Fou (1965) is “Not blood” but “red” to its logical conclusion, a festival of artfully composed throat-slittings and torso hackings. Blood spits out of human bodies like when Mentos are dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke. It frames killing as pure artifice, executed with impassive grace by the beautiful Meiko Kaji." - R. Emmet Sweeney
IMDB
166
LANCELOT OF THE LAKE
Lancelot du Lac (original title)
Robert Bresson
1974 / France / 85 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernhard, Arthur De Montalembert, Charles Balsan
"Lancelot du Lac embodies the perfection of a language that has been in the process of development and refinement for over thirty years. If it stuns and overwhelms one’s sense of the possibilities of that language... this is not because it represents a significant departure or deviation from the path Robert Bresson has consistently followed. The source of amazement lies in the film’s clarity and simplicity..." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Lancelot du Lac (original title)
Robert Bresson
1974 / France / 85 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernhard, Arthur De Montalembert, Charles Balsan
"Lancelot du Lac embodies the perfection of a language that has been in the process of development and refinement for over thirty years. If it stuns and overwhelms one’s sense of the possibilities of that language... this is not because it represents a significant departure or deviation from the path Robert Bresson has consistently followed. The source of amazement lies in the film’s clarity and simplicity..." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
165
CAMPE DE THIAROYE
Ousmane Sembene
1988 / Senegal / 150 min / Color / Drama, War
Sidiki Bakaba, Hamed Camara, Ismaila Cissé, Ababacar Sy Cissé, Moussa Cissoko, Eloi Coly, Ismaël Lô
"The soldiers are fed lousy grub, forced back into their old colonial uniforms, and have their wages cut in half -- the war at home is above all a psychological one over identity, Sembene understands it and the sergeant voices it ("We are not French citizens. We are French subjects"). Survival means not merely enduring but prevailing, Faulkner says, and the hostage-scrambling that was comical earlier turns sober as rebellion erupts. A note of Eisenstein is adduced in the climactic slaughter, which exposes the face of oppression in the battle both within and without." - Fernando F. Croce
IMDB
Ousmane Sembene
1988 / Senegal / 150 min / Color / Drama, War
Sidiki Bakaba, Hamed Camara, Ismaila Cissé, Ababacar Sy Cissé, Moussa Cissoko, Eloi Coly, Ismaël Lô
"The soldiers are fed lousy grub, forced back into their old colonial uniforms, and have their wages cut in half -- the war at home is above all a psychological one over identity, Sembene understands it and the sergeant voices it ("We are not French citizens. We are French subjects"). Survival means not merely enduring but prevailing, Faulkner says, and the hostage-scrambling that was comical earlier turns sober as rebellion erupts. A note of Eisenstein is adduced in the climactic slaughter, which exposes the face of oppression in the battle both within and without." - Fernando F. Croce
IMDB
164
MICHAEL
Mikael (original title)
Carl Theodor Dreyer
1924 / Germany / 93 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Nijirô Murakami, Junko Abe, Miyuki Matsuda, Tetta Sugimoto, Makiko Watanabe, Jun Murakami
"Michael’s irrepressible and quasi-vampiric rise to happiness at Zoret’s expense is brought to life in Dreyer’s spontaneously expressive array of images. Closeups of burning intensity and opulent tableaux of frozen horror suggest the great director’s transcendent theme, of divine grace granted and withheld." - Richard Brody
IMDB
Mikael (original title)
Carl Theodor Dreyer
1924 / Germany / 93 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Nijirô Murakami, Junko Abe, Miyuki Matsuda, Tetta Sugimoto, Makiko Watanabe, Jun Murakami
"Michael’s irrepressible and quasi-vampiric rise to happiness at Zoret’s expense is brought to life in Dreyer’s spontaneously expressive array of images. Closeups of burning intensity and opulent tableaux of frozen horror suggest the great director’s transcendent theme, of divine grace granted and withheld." - Richard Brody
IMDB
163
THE HOLE
Dong (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1998 / Taiwan / 95 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy, Musical
Yang Kuei-Mei, Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, Tong Hsiang-Chu, Lin Hui-Chin, Lin Kun-huei
"...In a conventional romance, this would be the happy accident that unites, by way of the persistent pressure of proximity, the incompatible couple by fateful convenience through a series of comic incidents. In the world of Tsai Ming-Liang, however, we get a dramatic departure from convention and insistent genre, and at the same time, a continuation of his exploration of societal dysfunction and the loneliness that arises from the ensuing alienation." - Fred Patton
IMDB
Dong (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1998 / Taiwan / 95 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy, Musical
Yang Kuei-Mei, Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, Tong Hsiang-Chu, Lin Hui-Chin, Lin Kun-huei
"...In a conventional romance, this would be the happy accident that unites, by way of the persistent pressure of proximity, the incompatible couple by fateful convenience through a series of comic incidents. In the world of Tsai Ming-Liang, however, we get a dramatic departure from convention and insistent genre, and at the same time, a continuation of his exploration of societal dysfunction and the loneliness that arises from the ensuing alienation." - Fred Patton
IMDB
162
TOUCH OF EVIL
Orson Welles
1958 / US / 95 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Moore, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver
"The giddy constellation of eccentric side players and slum-like locations coalesce to form a story that often comes across as contrived. But it’s only by its tremendous, surreal climax that you realise that this is pure character study and not some wantonly outlandish noir- thriller in which everything ties up in a neat bow." - David Jenkins
IMDB
Orson Welles
1958 / US / 95 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Moore, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver
"The giddy constellation of eccentric side players and slum-like locations coalesce to form a story that often comes across as contrived. But it’s only by its tremendous, surreal climax that you realise that this is pure character study and not some wantonly outlandish noir- thriller in which everything ties up in a neat bow." - David Jenkins
IMDB
161
A SEPARATION
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (original title)
Asghar Farhadi
2011 / Iran / 123 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Family
Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina , Ali-Asghar Shahbazi
"The drama it might remind you most of, oddly enough, is "Six Degrees of Separation," also about the snowballing connections between unlikely people. And as in that urban clash, the bedrock of it all is social responsibility, ever crumbling and rebuilding. A total triumph." - Joshua Rothkopf
IMDB
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (original title)
Asghar Farhadi
2011 / Iran / 123 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Family
Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina , Ali-Asghar Shahbazi
"The drama it might remind you most of, oddly enough, is "Six Degrees of Separation," also about the snowballing connections between unlikely people. And as in that urban clash, the bedrock of it all is social responsibility, ever crumbling and rebuilding. A total triumph." - Joshua Rothkopf
IMDB
160
YOJIMBO
Yôjinbô (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1961 / Japan / 110 min / BW / Action, Drama, Thriller
Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Eijirô Tôno, Kamatari Fujiwara
"Kurosawa’s loose and darkly funny adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest is a visually expressive marvel, with the director taking full advantage of the lateral possibilities of the widescreen frame. One scans the screen for details as if watching a tennis match—the garish visuals pop up on one side of the screen, then the other, then the other." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Yôjinbô (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1961 / Japan / 110 min / BW / Action, Drama, Thriller
Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Eijirô Tôno, Kamatari Fujiwara
"Kurosawa’s loose and darkly funny adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest is a visually expressive marvel, with the director taking full advantage of the lateral possibilities of the widescreen frame. One scans the screen for details as if watching a tennis match—the garish visuals pop up on one side of the screen, then the other, then the other." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
159
THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF HORUS, PRINCE OF THE SUN
Taiyô no ôji: Horusu no daibôken (original title)
Isao Takahata
1968 / Japan / 82 min / Color / Animation, Action, Adventure
Mikijirô Hira, Etsuko Ichihara, Eijirô Tôno, Masao Mishima, Yasushi Nagata, Hisako Ôkata, Hiroshi Kamiyama, Hisashi Yokomori, Tadashi Yokouchi
"Horus is a boy, who pulls a sword out of a rock giant, only to discover that it is the Sword of the Sun, which transforms Horus into the Prince of the Sun and battles an evil Ice Demon. It is a very confusing film, especially for a Dane. Much of the mythology is Japanese, but people have Nordic names. But it has an energy and boyish go-get-em attitude and it is easy to see why it became such a hit amongst animators and anime fans." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
Taiyô no ôji: Horusu no daibôken (original title)
Isao Takahata
1968 / Japan / 82 min / Color / Animation, Action, Adventure
Mikijirô Hira, Etsuko Ichihara, Eijirô Tôno, Masao Mishima, Yasushi Nagata, Hisako Ôkata, Hiroshi Kamiyama, Hisashi Yokomori, Tadashi Yokouchi
"Horus is a boy, who pulls a sword out of a rock giant, only to discover that it is the Sword of the Sun, which transforms Horus into the Prince of the Sun and battles an evil Ice Demon. It is a very confusing film, especially for a Dane. Much of the mythology is Japanese, but people have Nordic names. But it has an energy and boyish go-get-em attitude and it is easy to see why it became such a hit amongst animators and anime fans." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
158
THE SEVENTH SEAL
Det sjunde inseglet (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1957 / Sweden / 96 min / BW / Drama, Fantasy
Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Inga Gill, Maud Hansson, Inga Landgré, Gunnel Lindblom, Anders Ek
"Whenever I revisit The Seventh Seal, what hits me hardest isn’t the heavy symbolism or the theological discourse, but rather the material involving the traveling players. Along with the romance in Summer with Monika, these passages epitomize the earthiness and sensuality that course through the first decade or so of Ingmar Bergman’s filmmaking career, communicating not just fascination with but also enthusiastic love for other people." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Det sjunde inseglet (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1957 / Sweden / 96 min / BW / Drama, Fantasy
Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Inga Gill, Maud Hansson, Inga Landgré, Gunnel Lindblom, Anders Ek
"Whenever I revisit The Seventh Seal, what hits me hardest isn’t the heavy symbolism or the theological discourse, but rather the material involving the traveling players. Along with the romance in Summer with Monika, these passages epitomize the earthiness and sensuality that course through the first decade or so of Ingmar Bergman’s filmmaking career, communicating not just fascination with but also enthusiastic love for other people." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
157
AN ACTOR'S REVENGE
Yukinojô henge (original title)
Kon Ichikawa
1963 / Japan / 113 min / Color / Drama
Kazuo Hasegawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, Eiji Funakoshi, Narutoshi Hayashi, Eijirô Yanagi, Shintarô Katsu
"The use of theater conventions and widescreen helps to plumb the psychological depths of its character types and creates a space for formal play. Yet An Actor's Revenge takes a more flexible approach, and the striking voiceover conveys a sense of double consciousness. Criterion's excellent release not only introduces viewers to a remarkable outlier in Ichikawa's filmography but also to a most colorful performance." - James Widdicombe
IMDB
Yukinojô henge (original title)
Kon Ichikawa
1963 / Japan / 113 min / Color / Drama
Kazuo Hasegawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, Eiji Funakoshi, Narutoshi Hayashi, Eijirô Yanagi, Shintarô Katsu
"The use of theater conventions and widescreen helps to plumb the psychological depths of its character types and creates a space for formal play. Yet An Actor's Revenge takes a more flexible approach, and the striking voiceover conveys a sense of double consciousness. Criterion's excellent release not only introduces viewers to a remarkable outlier in Ichikawa's filmography but also to a most colorful performance." - James Widdicombe
IMDB
156
RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN
Nagaya shinshiroku (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1947 / Japan / 72 min / BW / Drama
Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Reikichi Kawamura, Hideko Mimura, Chishû Ryû, Takeshi Sakamoto
"Ozu's treatment of his scenario is so unobtrusively deft we may not see at first how deeply the effects of World War II are impressed upon every shot, setting, and character of the film. When we do, Record of a Tenement Gentleman becomes less a singular story about the unlocking of an elderly woman's heart than a populist Japanese postwar blues delivered in that comic and bittersweet lyric style that is distinctly Ozu's." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
Nagaya shinshiroku (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1947 / Japan / 72 min / BW / Drama
Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Reikichi Kawamura, Hideko Mimura, Chishû Ryû, Takeshi Sakamoto
"Ozu's treatment of his scenario is so unobtrusively deft we may not see at first how deeply the effects of World War II are impressed upon every shot, setting, and character of the film. When we do, Record of a Tenement Gentleman becomes less a singular story about the unlocking of an elderly woman's heart than a populist Japanese postwar blues delivered in that comic and bittersweet lyric style that is distinctly Ozu's." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
155
THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN
La graine et le mulet (original title)
Abdellatif Kechiche
2007 / France / 151 min / Color / Drama
Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Farida Benkhetache, Abdelhamid Aktouche, Alice Houri, Bouraouïa Marzouk, Cyril Favre, Leila D'Issernio
"It has the texture of a documentary but a classic, almost Shakespearean structure: when patriarch Slimane acts on his wish to open a portside restaurant specializing in his ex-wife’s couscous and fish, the extended clan’s passions and problems explode, leading to an engrossing, suspenseful climax. With sensitivity and grit, The Secret of the Grain celebrates the role food plays in family life and gets to the core of contemporary immigrant experience." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
La graine et le mulet (original title)
Abdellatif Kechiche
2007 / France / 151 min / Color / Drama
Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Farida Benkhetache, Abdelhamid Aktouche, Alice Houri, Bouraouïa Marzouk, Cyril Favre, Leila D'Issernio
"It has the texture of a documentary but a classic, almost Shakespearean structure: when patriarch Slimane acts on his wish to open a portside restaurant specializing in his ex-wife’s couscous and fish, the extended clan’s passions and problems explode, leading to an engrossing, suspenseful climax. With sensitivity and grit, The Secret of the Grain celebrates the role food plays in family life and gets to the core of contemporary immigrant experience." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
154
ROME, OPEN CITY
Roma città aperta (original title)
Roberto Rossellini
1945 / Italy / 113 min / BW / Drama, Thriller, War
Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Vito Annichiarico, Nando Bruno, Harry Feist, Giovanna Galletti
"No film defines [postwar Italian cinema] better than Roberto Rossellini's OPEN CITY, a work of great humanism, political conviction, and stylistic invention. Rossellini shot this story about Nazi-occupied Rome entirely on location just two months after the European theater of WWII declared its ceasefire. The drama is constructed from the rhythms, places, and literal debris of reality, and it's difficult to imagine any independent fiction filmmaker who isn't in some way touched its example." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Roma città aperta (original title)
Roberto Rossellini
1945 / Italy / 113 min / BW / Drama, Thriller, War
Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Vito Annichiarico, Nando Bruno, Harry Feist, Giovanna Galletti
"No film defines [postwar Italian cinema] better than Roberto Rossellini's OPEN CITY, a work of great humanism, political conviction, and stylistic invention. Rossellini shot this story about Nazi-occupied Rome entirely on location just two months after the European theater of WWII declared its ceasefire. The drama is constructed from the rhythms, places, and literal debris of reality, and it's difficult to imagine any independent fiction filmmaker who isn't in some way touched its example." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
153
SECRET SUNSHINE
Milyang (original title)
Lee Chang-dong
2007 / South Korea / 142 min / Color / Drama
Jeon Do-yeon, Song Kang-ho, Jo Young-jin, Kim Young-jae, Song Mi-rim, Seon Jeong-yeop
"Teeming with incident, full of emotions, roiling with anger, Secret Sunshine is nevertheless something like a blank canvas. Director Lee Chang-dong’s protracted yet endlessly involving tale of grief and regeneration is a classically tailored assemblage of small, clipped moments, prizing the intricacies of human behavior but also acknowledging it as remote and difficult to define." - Michael Koresky
IMDB
Milyang (original title)
Lee Chang-dong
2007 / South Korea / 142 min / Color / Drama
Jeon Do-yeon, Song Kang-ho, Jo Young-jin, Kim Young-jae, Song Mi-rim, Seon Jeong-yeop
"Teeming with incident, full of emotions, roiling with anger, Secret Sunshine is nevertheless something like a blank canvas. Director Lee Chang-dong’s protracted yet endlessly involving tale of grief and regeneration is a classically tailored assemblage of small, clipped moments, prizing the intricacies of human behavior but also acknowledging it as remote and difficult to define." - Michael Koresky
IMDB
152
HARMONY LESSONS
Uroki garmonii (original title)
Emir Baigazin
2013 / Kazakstan / 120 min / Color / Drama
Timur Aidarbekov, Aslan Anarbayev, Mukhtar Andassov, Anelya Adilbekova, Omar Adilov, Adlet Anarbekov, Daulet Anarbekov
"As the title suggests, Harmony Lessons is less a straightforward narrative than a series of illustrative moments about the Darwinian horrors of adolescence, where the strong eat the weak and the weak must adapt -- sometimes violently -- to survive. It's a spellbinding work that manages to include extended digressions on the laws of physics, Islam and Gandhism in its perverse, profound brew." - Scott Foundas
IMDB
Uroki garmonii (original title)
Emir Baigazin
2013 / Kazakstan / 120 min / Color / Drama
Timur Aidarbekov, Aslan Anarbayev, Mukhtar Andassov, Anelya Adilbekova, Omar Adilov, Adlet Anarbekov, Daulet Anarbekov
"As the title suggests, Harmony Lessons is less a straightforward narrative than a series of illustrative moments about the Darwinian horrors of adolescence, where the strong eat the weak and the weak must adapt -- sometimes violently -- to survive. It's a spellbinding work that manages to include extended digressions on the laws of physics, Islam and Gandhism in its perverse, profound brew." - Scott Foundas
IMDB
151
BRIGHTNESS
Yeelen (original title)
Souleymane Cissé
1987 / Senegal / 115 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy
Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Balla Moussa Keita, Soumba Traore, Ismaila Sarr, Youssouf Tenin Cissé
"There isn't a Hollywood blockbuster that comes close to this sparse dialogue and lyrical visionary work as far as creating such a powerfully felt sense of being and universe, and it's amazingly accomplished with a nonprofessional acting cast. It's simply uncompromising cinema, featuring fantastic landscapes and gripping magical images of light and fire and a story that bristles with life and passion and depth and purity. From what I understand, Cisse had to overcome some difficult situations such as the death of the film's father that caused reshooting his early scenes with a replacement, bad weather, and financial woes. But the karma must have been good, because this film turned out to be everything that a masterpiece should be." - Dennis Schwartz
IMDB
Yeelen (original title)
Souleymane Cissé
1987 / Senegal / 115 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy
Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Balla Moussa Keita, Soumba Traore, Ismaila Sarr, Youssouf Tenin Cissé
"There isn't a Hollywood blockbuster that comes close to this sparse dialogue and lyrical visionary work as far as creating such a powerfully felt sense of being and universe, and it's amazingly accomplished with a nonprofessional acting cast. It's simply uncompromising cinema, featuring fantastic landscapes and gripping magical images of light and fire and a story that bristles with life and passion and depth and purity. From what I understand, Cisse had to overcome some difficult situations such as the death of the film's father that caused reshooting his early scenes with a replacement, bad weather, and financial woes. But the karma must have been good, because this film turned out to be everything that a masterpiece should be." - Dennis Schwartz
IMDB
150
STRAY DOG
Nora inu (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1949 / Japan / 122 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Mystery
Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Teruko Kishi, Ichirô Sugai
"Coming just before Rashomon, his breakthrough into more serious filmmaking, Stray Dog finds Kurosawa at the peak of his craft before reaching for even greater thematic heights. The movie is a gripping, often intense detective story built around a rich depiction of post-war Tokyo." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Nora inu (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1949 / Japan / 122 min / BW / Crime, Drama, Mystery
Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Teruko Kishi, Ichirô Sugai
"Coming just before Rashomon, his breakthrough into more serious filmmaking, Stray Dog finds Kurosawa at the peak of his craft before reaching for even greater thematic heights. The movie is a gripping, often intense detective story built around a rich depiction of post-war Tokyo." - Ben Sachs
IMDB
149
DAYS OF BEING WILD
Ah fei zing zyun (original title)
Wong Kar-Wai
1990 / Hong Kong / 94 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Romance
Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Jacky Cheung
"The terrific, all-star cast enacts this as a series of emotionally unresolved encounters; the swooningly beautiful camera and design work takes its hallucinatory tone from the protagonist's own uncertainties. The mysterious appearance of Tony Leung only in the closing scene heralds a sequel that will sadly never be made. But this is already some kind of masterpiece." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
Ah fei zing zyun (original title)
Wong Kar-Wai
1990 / Hong Kong / 94 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Romance
Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Jacky Cheung
"The terrific, all-star cast enacts this as a series of emotionally unresolved encounters; the swooningly beautiful camera and design work takes its hallucinatory tone from the protagonist's own uncertainties. The mysterious appearance of Tony Leung only in the closing scene heralds a sequel that will sadly never be made. But this is already some kind of masterpiece." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
148
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD
Qing shao nian nuo zha (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1992 / Taiwan / 106 min / Color / Crime, Drama
Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Chao-jung, Jen Chang-bin, Wang Yu-wen, Lu Yi-ching, Tien Miao
"No director since Fassbinder has such insight into the lives of lost young men in crumbling inner cities as Tsai Ming-Liang delivers in this devastating first feature. Brilliantly observed, with dialogue kept to a minimum, and as tender as a Lou Reed elegy." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
Qing shao nian nuo zha (original title)
Tsai Ming-liang
1992 / Taiwan / 106 min / Color / Crime, Drama
Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Chao-jung, Jen Chang-bin, Wang Yu-wen, Lu Yi-ching, Tien Miao
"No director since Fassbinder has such insight into the lives of lost young men in crumbling inner cities as Tsai Ming-Liang delivers in this devastating first feature. Brilliantly observed, with dialogue kept to a minimum, and as tender as a Lou Reed elegy." - Tony Rayns
IMDB
147
KURONEKO
Yabu no naka no kuroneko (original title)
Kaneto Shindô
1968 / Japan / 99 min / BW / Drama, Horror
Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura, Kiwako Taichi, Taiji Tonoyama, Hideo Kanze
"Kuroneko remains a standout film of the kaidan eiga genre of period ghost stories often based on old legends or kabuki plays. Marking Shindo's first use of wire work as Yone and Shige battle against samurai blades, the film is subtly complimented by Kiyomi Kuroda's award-winning chiaroscuro cinematography, Hikaru Hayashi's vibrant score, and riveting performances from many of the greatest actors of Japan's Golden Age of film." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
Yabu no naka no kuroneko (original title)
Kaneto Shindô
1968 / Japan / 99 min / BW / Drama, Horror
Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura, Kiwako Taichi, Taiji Tonoyama, Hideo Kanze
"Kuroneko remains a standout film of the kaidan eiga genre of period ghost stories often based on old legends or kabuki plays. Marking Shindo's first use of wire work as Yone and Shige battle against samurai blades, the film is subtly complimented by Kiyomi Kuroda's award-winning chiaroscuro cinematography, Hikaru Hayashi's vibrant score, and riveting performances from many of the greatest actors of Japan's Golden Age of film." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
146
DREAMS
Yume (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1990 / Japan / 119 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy
Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano, Chishû Ryû, Martin Scorsese
"Watching it today, however, for all its purported serenity, the film’s effect is deeply unnerving. Its prevailing mood feels more like one of helplessness—of humans at the mercy of a mercurial world and the consequences of their own carelessness. It is at once one of the calmest and one of the most terrifying works of Kurosawa’s career." - Bilge Ebiri
IMDB
Yume (original title)
Akira Kurosawa
1990 / Japan / 119 min / Color / Drama, Fantasy
Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano, Chishû Ryû, Martin Scorsese
"Watching it today, however, for all its purported serenity, the film’s effect is deeply unnerving. Its prevailing mood feels more like one of helplessness—of humans at the mercy of a mercurial world and the consequences of their own carelessness. It is at once one of the calmest and one of the most terrifying works of Kurosawa’s career." - Bilge Ebiri
IMDB
145
BATTLE ROYALE
Batoru rowaiaru (original title)
Kinji Fukasaku
2000 / Japan / 116 min / Color / Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sôsuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto
"A milestone for fans of Japanese action and violent cinema, Battle Royale certainly deserves its cult reputation. Although its violence looks less and less shocking and outrageous with each passing year, it remains a smart, darkly funny thriller with a remarkable cast of young actors (many of whom went on to become big stars) and a director still able to muster the youthful energy required to helm such a dynamic project." - Mark Walcow
IMDB
Batoru rowaiaru (original title)
Kinji Fukasaku
2000 / Japan / 116 min / Color / Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sôsuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto
"A milestone for fans of Japanese action and violent cinema, Battle Royale certainly deserves its cult reputation. Although its violence looks less and less shocking and outrageous with each passing year, it remains a smart, darkly funny thriller with a remarkable cast of young actors (many of whom went on to become big stars) and a director still able to muster the youthful energy required to helm such a dynamic project." - Mark Walcow
IMDB
144
A SCENE AT THE SEA
Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1991 / Japan / 101 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, Romance
Claude Maki, Hiroko Ôshima, Sabu Kawahara, Toshizo Fujiwara
"It was also the first film where Kitano worked with minimalist composer extraordinaire Jô Hisaishi, who went on to win an Japanese Academy Award for best score; The film got nominated for best film, screenplay, editing and direction, but Kitano was ignored. But where the Academy chose to ignore him, others didn’t: At the 13th Yokohama Film Festival, Kitano won best directorial award." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1991 / Japan / 101 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, Romance
Claude Maki, Hiroko Ôshima, Sabu Kawahara, Toshizo Fujiwara
"It was also the first film where Kitano worked with minimalist composer extraordinaire Jô Hisaishi, who went on to win an Japanese Academy Award for best score; The film got nominated for best film, screenplay, editing and direction, but Kitano was ignored. But where the Academy chose to ignore him, others didn’t: At the 13th Yokohama Film Festival, Kitano won best directorial award." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
143
LAPUTA: THE CASTLE IN THE SKY
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
1986 / Japan / 125 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Family
Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada, Fujio Tokita, Ichirô Nagai
"Miyzaki's third film is certainly his most action-packed, and if it lacks some of the quieter pleasures associated with his later films, it more than makes up for this in the bounty of thrilling set pieces that stretch from the rails of a rustic mining town to the pirate-infested skies far above." - Tristan Johnson
IMDB
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
1986 / Japan / 125 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Family
Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada, Fujio Tokita, Ichirô Nagai
"Miyzaki's third film is certainly his most action-packed, and if it lacks some of the quieter pleasures associated with his later films, it more than makes up for this in the bounty of thrilling set pieces that stretch from the rails of a rustic mining town to the pirate-infested skies far above." - Tristan Johnson
IMDB
142
RED SORGHUM
Hong gao liang (original title)
Zhang Yimou
1988 / China / 91 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Gong Li, Jiang Wen, Ji Chunhua, Teng Rujun
"Formerly a cameraman, Zhang fills the 'Scope screen with rich, sensuous images that illuminate and celebrate peasant life (waving sorghum fields, an eclipse of the sun), and uses actors, music and colour in a deeply expressive way. This, his debut as a director, confirms him as one of the finest and most versatile of China's 'Fifth Generation' film-makers." - Time Out
IMDB
Hong gao liang (original title)
Zhang Yimou
1988 / China / 91 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Gong Li, Jiang Wen, Ji Chunhua, Teng Rujun
"Formerly a cameraman, Zhang fills the 'Scope screen with rich, sensuous images that illuminate and celebrate peasant life (waving sorghum fields, an eclipse of the sun), and uses actors, music and colour in a deeply expressive way. This, his debut as a director, confirms him as one of the finest and most versatile of China's 'Fifth Generation' film-makers." - Time Out
IMDB
141
EQUINOX FLOWER
Higanbana (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1958 / Japan / 118 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga, Keiji Sada, Chishû Ryû, Miyuki Kuwano, Teiji Takahashi
"Ozu’s first color film is shriekingly expressive; he gashes his pastel palette with sanguine streaks and, though he mainly keeps the camera in his familiar close-to-the-ground tatami position, he bangs out angles with an ardent impulsiveness that conveys his own passion." - Richard Brody
IMDB
Higanbana (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1958 / Japan / 118 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga, Keiji Sada, Chishû Ryû, Miyuki Kuwano, Teiji Takahashi
"Ozu’s first color film is shriekingly expressive; he gashes his pastel palette with sanguine streaks and, though he mainly keeps the camera in his familiar close-to-the-ground tatami position, he bangs out angles with an ardent impulsiveness that conveys his own passion." - Richard Brody
IMDB
140
KIKUJIRO
Kikujirô no natsu (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1999 / Japan / 122 min / Color / Drama, Comedy
Takeshi Kitano, Yusuke Sekiguchi, Kayoko Kishimoto, Gurêto Gidayû, Rakkyo Ide, Akaji Maro, Yûko Daike
"Kikujiro is easily the most beloved film by Kitano. It is full of life, it has the heart at the right place. Like no other Kitano film, Kikujiro is all about moving on (“the angel trilogy”) and as such it marks the end of the three films about making things right he made after recovering from his accident. Life is cruel, life never is as one hopes it to be, but there is always a friend you can rely on. Both the use and representation of the angel motif is stronger here than in the two films prior: Not a Christian motif, but about people who helps others in time of need." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
Kikujirô no natsu (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1999 / Japan / 122 min / Color / Drama, Comedy
Takeshi Kitano, Yusuke Sekiguchi, Kayoko Kishimoto, Gurêto Gidayû, Rakkyo Ide, Akaji Maro, Yûko Daike
"Kikujiro is easily the most beloved film by Kitano. It is full of life, it has the heart at the right place. Like no other Kitano film, Kikujiro is all about moving on (“the angel trilogy”) and as such it marks the end of the three films about making things right he made after recovering from his accident. Life is cruel, life never is as one hopes it to be, but there is always a friend you can rely on. Both the use and representation of the angel motif is stronger here than in the two films prior: Not a Christian motif, but about people who helps others in time of need." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
139
VIVA L'ITALIA
Roberto Rossellini
1961 / Italy / 129 min / Color / Drama, History
Renzo Ricci, Paolo Stoppa, Franco Interlenghi, Giovanna Ralli, Leone Botta, Carlo Gazzabini, Marco Mariani, Gérard Herter
"Structured largely like a Hollywood epic such as Ben-Hur, Viva l'Italia!nonetheless betrays its maker's unorthodox, humanist approach even in its most grandiose sequences. Rossellini shoots the film's battles as if from the perspective of an overseeing general, with his camera frequently situated atop hills and zooming in and out of specific parts of a skirmish. In doing so, the filmmaker captures the overall progression of a fight rather than the visceral thrill of being in combat." - Jake Cole
IMDB
Roberto Rossellini
1961 / Italy / 129 min / Color / Drama, History
Renzo Ricci, Paolo Stoppa, Franco Interlenghi, Giovanna Ralli, Leone Botta, Carlo Gazzabini, Marco Mariani, Gérard Herter
"Structured largely like a Hollywood epic such as Ben-Hur, Viva l'Italia!nonetheless betrays its maker's unorthodox, humanist approach even in its most grandiose sequences. Rossellini shoots the film's battles as if from the perspective of an overseeing general, with his camera frequently situated atop hills and zooming in and out of specific parts of a skirmish. In doing so, the filmmaker captures the overall progression of a fight rather than the visceral thrill of being in combat." - Jake Cole
IMDB
138
GATE OF HELL
Jigokumon (original title)
Teinosuke Kinugasa
1953 / Japan / 89 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Kazuo Hasegawa, Machiko Kyô, Isao Yamagata, Yatarô Kurokawa, Kôtarô Bandô, Jun Tazaki, Koreya Senda, Tatsuya Ishiguro
"Cinema is a hybrid art form, com¬posed of performance and sound, narrative and decor. In common thinking, story and performance take precedence. And, indeed, Kinugasa’s inflection of the film’s story with a sly critique of militarism is quite effective. But more important is whatGate of Hell reveals about the formal properties of cinema. One of the medium’s greatest color films, it shows us powerfully that, beyond narrative, cinema is also a decorative art...." - Stephen Prince
IMDB
Jigokumon (original title)
Teinosuke Kinugasa
1953 / Japan / 89 min / Color / Drama, History, Romance
Kazuo Hasegawa, Machiko Kyô, Isao Yamagata, Yatarô Kurokawa, Kôtarô Bandô, Jun Tazaki, Koreya Senda, Tatsuya Ishiguro
"Cinema is a hybrid art form, com¬posed of performance and sound, narrative and decor. In common thinking, story and performance take precedence. And, indeed, Kinugasa’s inflection of the film’s story with a sly critique of militarism is quite effective. But more important is whatGate of Hell reveals about the formal properties of cinema. One of the medium’s greatest color films, it shows us powerfully that, beyond narrative, cinema is also a decorative art...." - Stephen Prince
IMDB
137
KIDS RETURN
Kizzu ritân (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1996 / Japan / 107 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Sport
Ken Kaneko, Masanobu Andô, Leo Morimoto, Hatsuo Yamaya, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Mitsuko Oka, Yûko Daike, Ryo Ishibashi
"At times autobiographical, “Kids Return” is the most atypical film by Kitano. Almost completely stripped of his usual motifs and themes, and lacking the complex ellipses, this is a straight forward narrative, full of honest and raw pictures with very little playing around. There is focus. The new elements are the introduction of his paintings, especially the angel motif, and colour coding: note the effects and use of red and blue. Simply a wonderful and warm film." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
Kizzu ritân (original title)
Takeshi Kitano
1996 / Japan / 107 min / Color / Crime, Drama, Sport
Ken Kaneko, Masanobu Andô, Leo Morimoto, Hatsuo Yamaya, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Mitsuko Oka, Yûko Daike, Ryo Ishibashi
"At times autobiographical, “Kids Return” is the most atypical film by Kitano. Almost completely stripped of his usual motifs and themes, and lacking the complex ellipses, this is a straight forward narrative, full of honest and raw pictures with very little playing around. There is focus. The new elements are the introduction of his paintings, especially the angel motif, and colour coding: note the effects and use of red and blue. Simply a wonderful and warm film." - Henrik Sylow
IMDB
136
BLACK NARCISSUS
Michael Powell
1947 / UK / 126 min / Color / Drama
Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, Judith Furse, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight, Sabu, David Farrar, Jean Simmons
"Despite the great wit and character of Pressburger’s dialogue, Black Narcissus is a film that develops almost entirely through formal rather than dramatic means. The carefully developed tensions between monochrome and color, between closed, coherent spaces and aching, cosmic voids, reach a crescendo in the bravura climactic sequence. It is enough to see the bright, red lipstick that Sister Ruth has put on to know that the apocalypse is near." - Dave Kehr
IMDB
Michael Powell
1947 / UK / 126 min / Color / Drama
Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, Judith Furse, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight, Sabu, David Farrar, Jean Simmons
"Despite the great wit and character of Pressburger’s dialogue, Black Narcissus is a film that develops almost entirely through formal rather than dramatic means. The carefully developed tensions between monochrome and color, between closed, coherent spaces and aching, cosmic voids, reach a crescendo in the bravura climactic sequence. It is enough to see the bright, red lipstick that Sister Ruth has put on to know that the apocalypse is near." - Dave Kehr
IMDB
135
THE MUNEKATA SISTERS
Munekata kyôdai (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1950 / Japan / 112 min / BW / Drama
Kinuyo Tanaka, Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Sanae Takasugi, Chishû Ryû, Sô Yamamur, Kamatari Fujiwara, Tatsuo Saitô
"Tanaka at first gives us very little to work with in her characterization of Setsuko, but as the film progresses and we learn how trapped she is in her marriage, how duty drives her daily life, how she is deserving of the happiness constantly denied her, the pain in her performance becomes almost unbearable. The final confrontation between husband and wife is a stunner, and audibly upset many Film Forum audience members." - Casey Scott
IMDB
Munekata kyôdai (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1950 / Japan / 112 min / BW / Drama
Kinuyo Tanaka, Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Sanae Takasugi, Chishû Ryû, Sô Yamamur, Kamatari Fujiwara, Tatsuo Saitô
"Tanaka at first gives us very little to work with in her characterization of Setsuko, but as the film progresses and we learn how trapped she is in her marriage, how duty drives her daily life, how she is deserving of the happiness constantly denied her, the pain in her performance becomes almost unbearable. The final confrontation between husband and wife is a stunner, and audibly upset many Film Forum audience members." - Casey Scott
IMDB
134
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Milos Forman
1975 / US / 133 min / Color / Drama
Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Michael Berryman, Alonzo Brown, Peter Brocco, Scatman Crothers, Dean R. Brooks, Mwako Cumbuka, Danny DeVito
"Cuckoo's Nest was released the same year as Jaws. It was the beginning of an era of the blockbuster movies that also marked the end of an experimental decade of character driven films that often focused on a lone protagonist trying to make their way in a hostile world. Many in the cast of then unknown actors such as Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif would go on to become recognizable faces in movies and television. It would also firmly establish Jack Nicholson as one of the top film actors of his generation. In more ways than one this is a true classic." - Dragan Antulov
IMDB
Milos Forman
1975 / US / 133 min / Color / Drama
Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Michael Berryman, Alonzo Brown, Peter Brocco, Scatman Crothers, Dean R. Brooks, Mwako Cumbuka, Danny DeVito
"Cuckoo's Nest was released the same year as Jaws. It was the beginning of an era of the blockbuster movies that also marked the end of an experimental decade of character driven films that often focused on a lone protagonist trying to make their way in a hostile world. Many in the cast of then unknown actors such as Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif would go on to become recognizable faces in movies and television. It would also firmly establish Jack Nicholson as one of the top film actors of his generation. In more ways than one this is a true classic." - Dragan Antulov
IMDB
133
HARAKIRI
Seppuku (original title)
Masaki Kobayashi
1962 / Japan / 133 min / BW / Action, Drama, History
Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba, Masao Mishima, Ichirô Nakatani, Hisashi Igawa
"It's important how the director Kobayashi's own life reflects Tsugumo's ideals. He was a lifelong pacifist, but his way of acting on his beliefs was not to avoid military service but to refuse promotion to the officer class, so that he would take his chances along with other conscripts." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
Seppuku (original title)
Masaki Kobayashi
1962 / Japan / 133 min / BW / Action, Drama, History
Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba, Masao Mishima, Ichirô Nakatani, Hisashi Igawa
"It's important how the director Kobayashi's own life reflects Tsugumo's ideals. He was a lifelong pacifist, but his way of acting on his beliefs was not to avoid military service but to refuse promotion to the officer class, so that he would take his chances along with other conscripts." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
132
MOOLADÉ
Ousmane Sembene
2004 / Senegal / 124 min / Color / Drama
Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Hélène Diarr, Salimata Traoré, Dominique Zeïda, Mah Compaoré, Aminata Dao, Rasmané Ouédraogo
"The French colonial legacy plays an important part in the story, and Sembene embodies it with his dramatic conception as well as his directorial invention. The ingenuity of the ending is its encapsulation of grand currents of history in a majestic yet deft, brisk but profound touch. It’s one of the great last shots of a directorial career." - Richard Brody
IMDB
Ousmane Sembene
2004 / Senegal / 124 min / Color / Drama
Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Hélène Diarr, Salimata Traoré, Dominique Zeïda, Mah Compaoré, Aminata Dao, Rasmané Ouédraogo
"The French colonial legacy plays an important part in the story, and Sembene embodies it with his dramatic conception as well as his directorial invention. The ingenuity of the ending is its encapsulation of grand currents of history in a majestic yet deft, brisk but profound touch. It’s one of the great last shots of a directorial career." - Richard Brody
IMDB
131
A GEISHA
Gion bayashi (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1953 / Japan / 85 min / BW / Drama
Michiyo Kogure, Ayako Wakao, Seizaburô Kawazu, Saburô Date, Kyôko Hisamatsu, Sumao Ishihara
"A sardonic riff on the difference between postwar and prewar ideas is matched by an angry discussion on the gap between constitutionally guaranteed rights and brutal realities. What starts as a conflict between tradition and progress morphs into a vision of a sham modernity that rests on the rot of unquestioned injustices" - Richard Brody
IMDB
Gion bayashi (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1953 / Japan / 85 min / BW / Drama
Michiyo Kogure, Ayako Wakao, Seizaburô Kawazu, Saburô Date, Kyôko Hisamatsu, Sumao Ishihara
"A sardonic riff on the difference between postwar and prewar ideas is matched by an angry discussion on the gap between constitutionally guaranteed rights and brutal realities. What starts as a conflict between tradition and progress morphs into a vision of a sham modernity that rests on the rot of unquestioned injustices" - Richard Brody
IMDB
130
SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN
Xiao cheng zhi chun (original title)
Fei Mu
1948 / China / 98 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Wei Wei, Yu Shi, Li Wei, Cui Chaoming, Zhang Hongmei
"[...Mu] creates extra hits of pure emotion through silky camera movements and the melancholy manner in which he frames his conflicted characters against the unforgiving landscape." - David Jenkins
IMDB
Xiao cheng zhi chun (original title)
Fei Mu
1948 / China / 98 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Wei Wei, Yu Shi, Li Wei, Cui Chaoming, Zhang Hongmei
"[...Mu] creates extra hits of pure emotion through silky camera movements and the melancholy manner in which he frames his conflicted characters against the unforgiving landscape." - David Jenkins
IMDB
129
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
Michael Powell
1937 / UK / 81 min / BW / Drama, History, Romance
John Laurie, Belle Chrystall, Eric Berry, Kitty Kirwan, Finlay Currie, Niall MacGinnis
"It is a film about the beauty and sadness of obsolescence, with Powell patiently capturing traditions, accents and faces that would soon be lost to history. Though a work of fiction with a love story at its heart, Powell embedded closely with the local population in order to depict them as accurately, and lovingly, as possible. The result is a film of grand emotions, grander cliffside landscapes and a jeweler’s eye for local detail." - R. Emmet Sweeney
IMDB
Michael Powell
1937 / UK / 81 min / BW / Drama, History, Romance
John Laurie, Belle Chrystall, Eric Berry, Kitty Kirwan, Finlay Currie, Niall MacGinnis
"It is a film about the beauty and sadness of obsolescence, with Powell patiently capturing traditions, accents and faces that would soon be lost to history. Though a work of fiction with a love story at its heart, Powell embedded closely with the local population in order to depict them as accurately, and lovingly, as possible. The result is a film of grand emotions, grander cliffside landscapes and a jeweler’s eye for local detail." - R. Emmet Sweeney
IMDB
128
THE STORY OF QIU JU
Qiu Ju da guan si (original title)
Zhang Yimou
1992 / China / 100 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Gong Li, Lei Kesheng, Liu Peiqi, Ge Zhi Jun, Ye Jun, Yang Liu Chun
"The results of these strategies are palpable. While some critics have suggested some aesthetic losses relative to Zhang’s more obviously formalized previous features, I think this is his most richly textured work to date. If the beauty of certain shots is less readily apparent than that of some in Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, and Raise the Red Lantern, this is largely because the story-telling functions of such shots are more fully integrated into the film’s overall rhythm and design." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Qiu Ju da guan si (original title)
Zhang Yimou
1992 / China / 100 min / Color / Comedy, Drama
Gong Li, Lei Kesheng, Liu Peiqi, Ge Zhi Jun, Ye Jun, Yang Liu Chun
"The results of these strategies are palpable. While some critics have suggested some aesthetic losses relative to Zhang’s more obviously formalized previous features, I think this is his most richly textured work to date. If the beauty of certain shots is less readily apparent than that of some in Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, and Raise the Red Lantern, this is largely because the story-telling functions of such shots are more fully integrated into the film’s overall rhythm and design." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
127
THE FACE OF ANOTHER
Tanin no kao (original title)
Hiroshi Teshigahara
1966 / Japan / 122 min / BW / Drama, Sci-Fi
Tatsuya Nakadai, Mikijirô Hira, Kyôko Kishida, Miki Irie, Eiji Okada, Minoru Chiaki, Hideo Kanze, Kunie Tanaka
"Using a variety of structural and stylistic elements, which include a film within the film, frames within frames, remarkable chiaroscuro by cinematographer Hiroshi Segawa, imaginative use of sound and figuration, Teshigahara builds outward from Abe’s story with a thematic development that suggests the problem of Japanese identity as much as personal identity." - Yusef Sayed
IMDB
Tanin no kao (original title)
Hiroshi Teshigahara
1966 / Japan / 122 min / BW / Drama, Sci-Fi
Tatsuya Nakadai, Mikijirô Hira, Kyôko Kishida, Miki Irie, Eiji Okada, Minoru Chiaki, Hideo Kanze, Kunie Tanaka
"Using a variety of structural and stylistic elements, which include a film within the film, frames within frames, remarkable chiaroscuro by cinematographer Hiroshi Segawa, imaginative use of sound and figuration, Teshigahara builds outward from Abe’s story with a thematic development that suggests the problem of Japanese identity as much as personal identity." - Yusef Sayed
IMDB
126
WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOME?
Khane-ye doust kodjast? (original title)
Abbas Kiarostami
1987 / Iran / 83 min / Color / Drama, Family
Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Khodabakhsh Defaei, Iran Outari, Ait Ansari
"Where is the Friends Home? is the first of these and opens in an unkempt Koker classroom where a browbeating teacher informs young Nematzadeh (Ahmed Ahmed Poor) of an impending expulsion as his 3rd infraction of having incomplete homework. Our plot has begun. Both engaging and unassuming, this is a film of classic depth by Kiarostami - one of his best.... much better experienced than discussed." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
Khane-ye doust kodjast? (original title)
Abbas Kiarostami
1987 / Iran / 83 min / Color / Drama, Family
Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Khodabakhsh Defaei, Iran Outari, Ait Ansari
"Where is the Friends Home? is the first of these and opens in an unkempt Koker classroom where a browbeating teacher informs young Nematzadeh (Ahmed Ahmed Poor) of an impending expulsion as his 3rd infraction of having incomplete homework. Our plot has begun. Both engaging and unassuming, this is a film of classic depth by Kiarostami - one of his best.... much better experienced than discussed." - Gary W. Tooze
IMDB
125
FITZCARRALDO
Werner Herzog
1982 / West Germany, Peru / 158 min / Color / Drama
Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes, Paul Hittscher, Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez, Grande Otelo, Peter Berling
"Fitzcarraldo carries a Buñuelian vulgarity in its satirical bent as well as in the controversy the film courted from the film makers... Herzog’s “ecstatic truth” is manifold; watching Kinski’s mystical gaze into the distance throughout the film has us almost believe he is a deity. As the film progresses we can never quite be sure how or if he has the natives under his spell, in actuality it was Herzog who was casting spells over everyone." - Adam Powell
IMDB
Werner Herzog
1982 / West Germany, Peru / 158 min / Color / Drama
Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes, Paul Hittscher, Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez, Grande Otelo, Peter Berling
"Fitzcarraldo carries a Buñuelian vulgarity in its satirical bent as well as in the controversy the film courted from the film makers... Herzog’s “ecstatic truth” is manifold; watching Kinski’s mystical gaze into the distance throughout the film has us almost believe he is a deity. As the film progresses we can never quite be sure how or if he has the natives under his spell, in actuality it was Herzog who was casting spells over everyone." - Adam Powell
IMDB
124
PORCO ROSSO
Kurenai no buta (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
1992 / Japan / 94 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, Bunshi Katsura Vi, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akemi Okamura, Akio Ôtsuka, Hiroko Seki, Reizô Nomoto
"Unlike Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso doesn't seek to ponder harrowing realities through an oft-fantastical medium, but rather successfully seeks to balance familiar elements of Hollywood entertainments and Miyazaki's own contemplative philosophies and imaginative, self-effacing personality, not unlike a Hawks or Ford military melodrama." - Chris Cabin
IMDB
Kurenai no buta (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
1992 / Japan / 94 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, Bunshi Katsura Vi, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akemi Okamura, Akio Ôtsuka, Hiroko Seki, Reizô Nomoto
"Unlike Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso doesn't seek to ponder harrowing realities through an oft-fantastical medium, but rather successfully seeks to balance familiar elements of Hollywood entertainments and Miyazaki's own contemplative philosophies and imaginative, self-effacing personality, not unlike a Hawks or Ford military melodrama." - Chris Cabin
IMDB
123
THE END OF SUMMER
Kohayagawa-ke no aki (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1961 / Japan / 103 min / Color / Drama
Ganjirô Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Michiyo Aratama, Keiju Kobayashi, Masahiko Shimazu, Hisaya Morishige, Haruko Sugimura
"Yet although the inevitability of death is acknowledged - the closing frame foregrounds black crows against the backdrop of the smoking crematorium chimney - the handsomely shot "The End of Summer" is also filled with generous qualities of warmth and humour. Ozu's pared-down visual style facilitates our involvement with these 'ordinary' characters, who are struggling to reconcile their feelings of duty and desire, and to accept life's inevitable changes. The soundtrack underlines this sense of transience. A fitting choice, then, to commemorate the centenary of Ozu's birth." - Tom Dawson
IMDB
Kohayagawa-ke no aki (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1961 / Japan / 103 min / Color / Drama
Ganjirô Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Michiyo Aratama, Keiju Kobayashi, Masahiko Shimazu, Hisaya Morishige, Haruko Sugimura
"Yet although the inevitability of death is acknowledged - the closing frame foregrounds black crows against the backdrop of the smoking crematorium chimney - the handsomely shot "The End of Summer" is also filled with generous qualities of warmth and humour. Ozu's pared-down visual style facilitates our involvement with these 'ordinary' characters, who are struggling to reconcile their feelings of duty and desire, and to accept life's inevitable changes. The soundtrack underlines this sense of transience. A fitting choice, then, to commemorate the centenary of Ozu's birth." - Tom Dawson
IMDB
122
THE GOLDEN COACH
Le carrosse d'or (original title)
Jean Renoir
1952 / France / 103 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, History
Anna Magnani, Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante, Duncan Lamont, George Higgins, Ralph Truman, Gisella Mathews
"The brilliant, unforced ironies of The Golden Coach remind us that conventional cleverness and facility are no substitutes for genius. One must not merely look at The Golden Coach. One must look _through_ it to discern the cinematic brush strokes of a great artist." - Andrew Sarris
IMDB
Le carrosse d'or (original title)
Jean Renoir
1952 / France / 103 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, History
Anna Magnani, Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante, Duncan Lamont, George Higgins, Ralph Truman, Gisella Mathews
"The brilliant, unforced ironies of The Golden Coach remind us that conventional cleverness and facility are no substitutes for genius. One must not merely look at The Golden Coach. One must look _through_ it to discern the cinematic brush strokes of a great artist." - Andrew Sarris
IMDB
121
SING A SONG OF SEX
Nihon shunka-kô (original title)
Nagisa Ôshima
1967 / Japan / 103 min / Color / Drama
Ichirô Araki, Kazuko Tajima, Jûzô Itami, Akiko Koyama, Koji Iwabuchi, Kazuyoshi Kushida, Hiroshi Satô, Nobuko Miyamoto
"Nagisa Oshima’s dense and complex A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs (aka Sing a Song of Sex, 67) stirs dirty drinking songs, Pete Seeger protest tunes, and Japanese workers’ anthems into the story of a group of politically disengaged students who fantasize about rape, culminating in a classroom lecture about the Korean origin of the Japanese people." - Marc Walkow
IMDB
Nihon shunka-kô (original title)
Nagisa Ôshima
1967 / Japan / 103 min / Color / Drama
Ichirô Araki, Kazuko Tajima, Jûzô Itami, Akiko Koyama, Koji Iwabuchi, Kazuyoshi Kushida, Hiroshi Satô, Nobuko Miyamoto
"Nagisa Oshima’s dense and complex A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs (aka Sing a Song of Sex, 67) stirs dirty drinking songs, Pete Seeger protest tunes, and Japanese workers’ anthems into the story of a group of politically disengaged students who fantasize about rape, culminating in a classroom lecture about the Korean origin of the Japanese people." - Marc Walkow
IMDB
120
OSAKA ELEGY
Naniwa erejî (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1936 / Japan / 71 min / BW / Comedy, Drama
Isuzu Yamada, Seiichi Takegawa, Chiyoko Ôkura, Shinpachirô Asaka, Benkei Shiganoya, Yôko Umemura, Kensaku Hara, Shizuko Takizawa, Eitarô Shindô
"A critical and popular triumph, Osaka Elegy established Mizoguchi as one of Japan’s major filmmakers. The director's often-used leading actress Isuzu Yamada stars as Ayoko, a switchboard operator trapped in a compromising, ruinous relationship with her boss to help support her wastrel father. With its fluid cinematography and deft storytelling, Osaka Elegy ushered in a new era of sound melodrama for Mizoguchi." - Gary Tooze
IMDB
Naniwa erejî (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1936 / Japan / 71 min / BW / Comedy, Drama
Isuzu Yamada, Seiichi Takegawa, Chiyoko Ôkura, Shinpachirô Asaka, Benkei Shiganoya, Yôko Umemura, Kensaku Hara, Shizuko Takizawa, Eitarô Shindô
"A critical and popular triumph, Osaka Elegy established Mizoguchi as one of Japan’s major filmmakers. The director's often-used leading actress Isuzu Yamada stars as Ayoko, a switchboard operator trapped in a compromising, ruinous relationship with her boss to help support her wastrel father. With its fluid cinematography and deft storytelling, Osaka Elegy ushered in a new era of sound melodrama for Mizoguchi." - Gary Tooze
IMDB
119
THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY
Todake no kyôdai (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1941 / Japan / 105 min / BW / Drama
Mieko Takamine, Shin Saburi, Hideo Fujino, Ayako Katsuragi, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Masao Hayama, Tatsuo Saitô, Kuniko Miyake, Chishû Ryû
"This 1941 film is one of the few upper-class family dramas by Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu, and the domestic furnishings and how they're framed help make it one of his most visually ravishing works. The events center on the untimely death of the father." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Todake no kyôdai (original title)
Yasujirō Ozu
1941 / Japan / 105 min / BW / Drama
Mieko Takamine, Shin Saburi, Hideo Fujino, Ayako Katsuragi, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Masao Hayama, Tatsuo Saitô, Kuniko Miyake, Chishû Ryû
"This 1941 film is one of the few upper-class family dramas by Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu, and the domestic furnishings and how they're framed help make it one of his most visually ravishing works. The events center on the untimely death of the father." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
118
THE WOMAN OF THE RUMOUR
Uwasa no onna (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 / Japan / 126 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Kinuyo Tanaka, Tomoemon Otani, Yoshiko Kuga, Eitarô Shindô, Bontarô Miake, Chieko Naniwa, Haruo Tanaka
"A sublime, perfectly modulated story of doomed love between a merchant's wife and a servant, set in 17th-century Japan and drawn from the repertory of Japan's puppet theater, the Bunraku. Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film has the most imaginative sound track of any of his films, and while the story lacks the awesome power of his Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff (both made during the same period), it still remains essential viewing." - Dave Kehr
IMDB
Uwasa no onna (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 / Japan / 126 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Kinuyo Tanaka, Tomoemon Otani, Yoshiko Kuga, Eitarô Shindô, Bontarô Miake, Chieko Naniwa, Haruo Tanaka
"A sublime, perfectly modulated story of doomed love between a merchant's wife and a servant, set in 17th-century Japan and drawn from the repertory of Japan's puppet theater, the Bunraku. Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film has the most imaginative sound track of any of his films, and while the story lacks the awesome power of his Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff (both made during the same period), it still remains essential viewing." - Dave Kehr
IMDB
117
THE RITE
Riten (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1969 / Sweden / 72 min / BW / Drama
Ingrid Thulin, Anders Ek, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erik Hell
"The Rite, like some of Bergman’s very best films, is an actor’s showcase, and everyone is excellent. Thulin, in particular, as a woman who is married to one of her fellow actors but only sleeps with the other, is a complicated, sensual wonder. And while the rite itself might no longer be as shocking as it was in 1969, the ending may still make audiences gasp—no one expects that from a Bergman movie! One of Bergman’s rarest films, and playing on 35mm, The Rite is a fascinating treat awaiting rediscovery." - Dana Reinoos
IMDB
Riten (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1969 / Sweden / 72 min / BW / Drama
Ingrid Thulin, Anders Ek, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erik Hell
"The Rite, like some of Bergman’s very best films, is an actor’s showcase, and everyone is excellent. Thulin, in particular, as a woman who is married to one of her fellow actors but only sleeps with the other, is a complicated, sensual wonder. And while the rite itself might no longer be as shocking as it was in 1969, the ending may still make audiences gasp—no one expects that from a Bergman movie! One of Bergman’s rarest films, and playing on 35mm, The Rite is a fascinating treat awaiting rediscovery." - Dana Reinoos
IMDB
116
TYPHOON CLUB
Taifû kurabu (original title)
Shinji Sômai
1985 / Japan / 115 min / Color / Drama, Romance
Yuichi Mikami, Yûki Kudô, Tomokazu Miura, Shigeru Benibayashi, Saburô Date, Tomiko Ishii, Kaori Kobayashi
"Japanese cinema has a great tradition of making ordinary life seem so meaningful and fascinating. Taifu kurabu might not be about the ordinary, but everyone will find something here that will remind them or their youth. It is not because of generality–Somai’s world is one of a kind–but rather, because of the sincerity and tenderness, and occasionally ire, that we all, Somai included, feel for our own youth that is extended towards these characters." - Some Words Some Places
IMDB
Taifû kurabu (original title)
Shinji Sômai
1985 / Japan / 115 min / Color / Drama, Romance
Yuichi Mikami, Yûki Kudô, Tomokazu Miura, Shigeru Benibayashi, Saburô Date, Tomiko Ishii, Kaori Kobayashi
"Japanese cinema has a great tradition of making ordinary life seem so meaningful and fascinating. Taifu kurabu might not be about the ordinary, but everyone will find something here that will remind them or their youth. It is not because of generality–Somai’s world is one of a kind–but rather, because of the sincerity and tenderness, and occasionally ire, that we all, Somai included, feel for our own youth that is extended towards these characters." - Some Words Some Places
IMDB
115
A STORY FROM CHIKAMATSU
Chikamatsu monogatari (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 / Japan / 102 min / BW / Drama, History, Romance
Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô, Eitarô Ozawa, Yôko Minamida, Haruo Tanaka, Chieko Naniwa, Ichirô Sugai
"Unashamedly melodramatic and filled with a melancholy though passionate resilience, The Crucified Lovers is a tragic tale of true love torn asunder by a cruel and unforgiving world. It would be so easy to say this would never happen today, and yet…" - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
Chikamatsu monogatari (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 / Japan / 102 min / BW / Drama, History, Romance
Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô, Eitarô Ozawa, Yôko Minamida, Haruo Tanaka, Chieko Naniwa, Ichirô Sugai
"Unashamedly melodramatic and filled with a melancholy though passionate resilience, The Crucified Lovers is a tragic tale of true love torn asunder by a cruel and unforgiving world. It would be so easy to say this would never happen today, and yet…" - Hayley Scanlon
IMDB
114
THE COWARD
Kapurush (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1965 / India / 70 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Haradhan Bannerjee
"It’s a film that creeps up on you slowly, sadly, full of intelligence and regret, showing life to be such that only a pill or a drink makes it bearable, and shown with a technique that is unobtrusive; but it all creeps up on you and at a certain moment, after you’ve understood the themes and felt for and with the characters, you realise and go ‘Wow’; a film where the exclamation, the explosion, is not shown on the screen but created in you." - José Arroyo
IMDB
Kapurush (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1965 / India / 70 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Haradhan Bannerjee
"It’s a film that creeps up on you slowly, sadly, full of intelligence and regret, showing life to be such that only a pill or a drink makes it bearable, and shown with a technique that is unobtrusive; but it all creeps up on you and at a certain moment, after you’ve understood the themes and felt for and with the characters, you realise and go ‘Wow’; a film where the exclamation, the explosion, is not shown on the screen but created in you." - José Arroyo
IMDB
113
AUTUMN SONATA
Höstsonaten (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1978 / Sweden / 92 min / Color / Drama, Music
Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Lena Nyman, Halvar Björk, Marianne Aminoff, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson
"Superficially, Autumn Sonata offers a parade of miseries that would be absurd in a lesser filmmaker's hands, but what Bergman's imitators have never entirely grasped is his sensuality, his tenderness and even his sense of humor; they only respond to the unhappiness, which they regard as offering piercing truth rather than metaphor... At his best, and the first half of Autumn Sonata is as good as anything he ever made, the filmmaker achieves a transcendent empathy." - Chuck Bowen
IMDB
Höstsonaten (original title)
Ingmar Bergman
1978 / Sweden / 92 min / Color / Drama, Music
Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Lena Nyman, Halvar Björk, Marianne Aminoff, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson
"Superficially, Autumn Sonata offers a parade of miseries that would be absurd in a lesser filmmaker's hands, but what Bergman's imitators have never entirely grasped is his sensuality, his tenderness and even his sense of humor; they only respond to the unhappiness, which they regard as offering piercing truth rather than metaphor... At his best, and the first half of Autumn Sonata is as good as anything he ever made, the filmmaker achieves a transcendent empathy." - Chuck Bowen
IMDB
112
THE SACRIFICE
Offret (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1986 / Sweden / 149 min / Color / Drama
Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Sven Wollter, Valérie Mairesse, Filippa Franzén, Tommy Kjellqvist
"Tarkovsky's last film isn't on the same level as his extraordinary Stalker, but it's a fitting apocalyptic statement, made when he knew he was dying of cancer. The first and penultimate shots... manage to say more than most films do over their entire length... As with Nostalghia, Tarkovsky's previous work of exile, it's possible to balk at the filmmaker's pretensions and antiquated sexual politics and yet be overwhelmed by his mastery and originality, as well as the conviction of his sincerity." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Offret (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1986 / Sweden / 149 min / Color / Drama
Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Sven Wollter, Valérie Mairesse, Filippa Franzén, Tommy Kjellqvist
"Tarkovsky's last film isn't on the same level as his extraordinary Stalker, but it's a fitting apocalyptic statement, made when he knew he was dying of cancer. The first and penultimate shots... manage to say more than most films do over their entire length... As with Nostalghia, Tarkovsky's previous work of exile, it's possible to balk at the filmmaker's pretensions and antiquated sexual politics and yet be overwhelmed by his mastery and originality, as well as the conviction of his sincerity." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
111
MOUCHETTE
Robert Bresson
1967 / France / 81 min / BW / Drama
Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal, Paul Hébert, Jean Vimenet, Marie Susini, Liliane Princet, Suzanne Huguenin
"It is the job of Bresson, as a religious artist in a secular age, to increase our sense of awe, by the shaping power of art, and intensify the presentiment of destiny, just as it is our job, as cinephiles, to go to Bresson, among others, to feel that there is some reason and design behind suffering incomprehensible as it may be in our daily lives." - Philip Lopate
IMDB
Robert Bresson
1967 / France / 81 min / BW / Drama
Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal, Paul Hébert, Jean Vimenet, Marie Susini, Liliane Princet, Suzanne Huguenin
"It is the job of Bresson, as a religious artist in a secular age, to increase our sense of awe, by the shaping power of art, and intensify the presentiment of destiny, just as it is our job, as cinephiles, to go to Bresson, among others, to feel that there is some reason and design behind suffering incomprehensible as it may be in our daily lives." - Philip Lopate
IMDB
110
DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST
Aranyer Din Ratri (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1970 / India / 115 min / BW / Drama
Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal, Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh, Samit Bhanja
"Influenced by French cinema, in particular the work of Jean Renoir (whom Ray had firsthand experience of working with), the film's pacing and narrative gradually builds towards its climax, taking in along the way its most famous sequence - a delightful picnic scene. By turns funny, sad and romantic, it's a work that confirms Ray's formidable reputation as a world film maker of the highest order." - Jamie Russell
IMDB
Aranyer Din Ratri (original title)
Satyajit Ray
1970 / India / 115 min / BW / Drama
Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal, Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh, Samit Bhanja
"Influenced by French cinema, in particular the work of Jean Renoir (whom Ray had firsthand experience of working with), the film's pacing and narrative gradually builds towards its climax, taking in along the way its most famous sequence - a delightful picnic scene. By turns funny, sad and romantic, it's a work that confirms Ray's formidable reputation as a world film maker of the highest order." - Jamie Russell
IMDB
109
ELENA AND HER MEN
Élèna et les Hommes (original title)
Jean Renoir
1956 / France / 95 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, Romance
Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard, Juliette Gréco, Pierre Bertin, Dora Doll
"To say that Renoir is the most intelligent of directors comes to the same thing as saying he is French to his fingertips. And if Eléna et les homes is 'the French film par excellence, it is because it is the most intelligent of films. Art and theory of art, at one and the same time; beauty and the secret of beauty; cinema and apologia for cinema." - Jean-Luc Godard
IMDB
Élèna et les Hommes (original title)
Jean Renoir
1956 / France / 95 min / Color / Comedy, Drama, Romance
Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard, Juliette Gréco, Pierre Bertin, Dora Doll
"To say that Renoir is the most intelligent of directors comes to the same thing as saying he is French to his fingertips. And if Eléna et les homes is 'the French film par excellence, it is because it is the most intelligent of films. Art and theory of art, at one and the same time; beauty and the secret of beauty; cinema and apologia for cinema." - Jean-Luc Godard
IMDB
108
UGETSU
Ugetsu monogatari (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1953 / Japan / 96 min / BW / Drama, Fantasy, War
Machiko Kyô, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori, Eitarô Ozawa, Sugisaku Aoyama
"While Ugetsu is crammed with enough action to furnish six other spectaculars, its principal focus is less on the action itself and more on its consequences, the effects that war and love leave in their wake. Directed with incomparable beauty and control, it well deserves its place in the International Critics Poll conducted by Sight and Sound in 1962 and 1972, where it figured both times as one of the ten greatest films ever made." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
Ugetsu monogatari (original title)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1953 / Japan / 96 min / BW / Drama, Fantasy, War
Machiko Kyô, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori, Eitarô Ozawa, Sugisaku Aoyama
"While Ugetsu is crammed with enough action to furnish six other spectaculars, its principal focus is less on the action itself and more on its consequences, the effects that war and love leave in their wake. Directed with incomparable beauty and control, it well deserves its place in the International Critics Poll conducted by Sight and Sound in 1962 and 1972, where it figured both times as one of the ten greatest films ever made." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
IMDB
107
SOLARIS
Solyaris (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1971 / Soviet Union / 167 min / Color / Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy, Nikolay Grinko, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Olga Barnet
"It's the nearest the cinema has come to capturing the complexities of modern science fiction, with its intermingling of time and memory, acute uneasiness, and emphasis on elegance and style. The immaculately photographed space-station, humbled with baroque incongruities reminiscent of Tarkovsky's battle landscapes in Ivan's Childhood, is a superbly designed labyrinth of inarticulate panic, a memorable symbol of the disordered human mind." - Philip Strick
IMDB
Solyaris (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1971 / Soviet Union / 167 min / Color / Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy, Nikolay Grinko, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Olga Barnet
"It's the nearest the cinema has come to capturing the complexities of modern science fiction, with its intermingling of time and memory, acute uneasiness, and emphasis on elegance and style. The immaculately photographed space-station, humbled with baroque incongruities reminiscent of Tarkovsky's battle landscapes in Ivan's Childhood, is a superbly designed labyrinth of inarticulate panic, a memorable symbol of the disordered human mind." - Philip Strick
IMDB
106
A WOMAN CRYING IN SPRING
Nakinureta haru no onna yo (original title)
Hiroshi Shimizu
1933 / Japan / 99 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Akiko Chihaya, Ryuko Fuji, Shizue Hyôdô, Mitsuko Ichimura, Ryuji Ishiyama, Tsuruko Kumoi, Sachiko Murase, Den Obinata
"Though Shimizu is known for his heartwarming films about children, this bleaker film illustrates what Wong Ain-Ling calls the director’s 'affinity [with] fallen souls,' his interest in vagrants and fallen women. Shimizu apparently hated Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, where the film was partly shot on location, but used its snowy landscapes beautifully, creating telling contrasts between them and the interiors, where he experimented with the use of shadow. He also made full use of the potential of sound film by incorporating songs into the drama. Yasujiro Ozu is on record as saying that he felt challenged by Shimizu's achievement to make a sound film of his own—the work which was to become The Only Son." - David Bordwell
IMDB
Nakinureta haru no onna yo (original title)
Hiroshi Shimizu
1933 / Japan / 99 min / BW / Drama, Romance
Akiko Chihaya, Ryuko Fuji, Shizue Hyôdô, Mitsuko Ichimura, Ryuji Ishiyama, Tsuruko Kumoi, Sachiko Murase, Den Obinata
"Though Shimizu is known for his heartwarming films about children, this bleaker film illustrates what Wong Ain-Ling calls the director’s 'affinity [with] fallen souls,' his interest in vagrants and fallen women. Shimizu apparently hated Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, where the film was partly shot on location, but used its snowy landscapes beautifully, creating telling contrasts between them and the interiors, where he experimented with the use of shadow. He also made full use of the potential of sound film by incorporating songs into the drama. Yasujiro Ozu is on record as saying that he felt challenged by Shimizu's achievement to make a sound film of his own—the work which was to become The Only Son." - David Bordwell
IMDB
105
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
Hotaru no haka (original title)
Isao Takahata
1988 / Japan / 89 min / Color / Animation, Drama, War
Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi, Tadashi Nakamura
"The idea that "War is Hell" has almost become something of a climatic cliché, but Takahata's film explores this well-worn slogan from new, exciting and harrowing angles. It's a strange and brilliant film, particularly in the way it deals with intensely dark subject matter with touches that occasionally verge on the winsome. But the film follows a traditional arc, as exuberance and hope slowly disintegrate and give way to regret, disillusion and, eventually, death." - David Jenkins
IMDB
Hotaru no haka (original title)
Isao Takahata
1988 / Japan / 89 min / Color / Animation, Drama, War
Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi, Tadashi Nakamura
"The idea that "War is Hell" has almost become something of a climatic cliché, but Takahata's film explores this well-worn slogan from new, exciting and harrowing angles. It's a strange and brilliant film, particularly in the way it deals with intensely dark subject matter with touches that occasionally verge on the winsome. But the film follows a traditional arc, as exuberance and hope slowly disintegrate and give way to regret, disillusion and, eventually, death." - David Jenkins
IMDB
104
PONYO
Gake no ue no Ponyo (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
2008 / Japan / 101 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, Yûki Amami, George Tokoro, Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Rumi Hiiragi
"It’s essentially a stroll through a fantastically detailed pastel world, in which the plot is little more than an excuse for Miyazaki to dive into a world teeming with colorful (and sometimes prehistoric) life." - Tasha Robinson
IMDB
Gake no ue no Ponyo (original title)
Hayao Miyazaki
2008 / Japan / 101 min / Color / Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, Yûki Amami, George Tokoro, Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Rumi Hiiragi
"It’s essentially a stroll through a fantastically detailed pastel world, in which the plot is little more than an excuse for Miyazaki to dive into a world teeming with colorful (and sometimes prehistoric) life." - Tasha Robinson
IMDB
103
THE RED SHOES
Michael Powell
1948 / UK / 134 min / Color / Drama, Music, Romance
Marius Goring, Jean Short, Gordon Littmann, Julia Lang, Bill Shine, Léonide Massine, Anton Walbrook, Austin Trevor, Esmond Knight
"Besides appealing to dance aficionados, the film owes its popularity to an inspired 15-minute sequence depicting the titular ballet, a feat of Total Cinema that brings together the movie's themes and draws on all other art forms for its unique spectacle. (This is not hyperbole: Powell recruited painter Heins Heckroth for the art direction, operatic composer Brian Easdale for the score, and professional ballerina Moira Shearer for the lead...)" - Ben Sachs
IMDB
Michael Powell
1948 / UK / 134 min / Color / Drama, Music, Romance
Marius Goring, Jean Short, Gordon Littmann, Julia Lang, Bill Shine, Léonide Massine, Anton Walbrook, Austin Trevor, Esmond Knight
"Besides appealing to dance aficionados, the film owes its popularity to an inspired 15-minute sequence depicting the titular ballet, a feat of Total Cinema that brings together the movie's themes and draws on all other art forms for its unique spectacle. (This is not hyperbole: Powell recruited painter Heins Heckroth for the art direction, operatic composer Brian Easdale for the score, and professional ballerina Moira Shearer for the lead...)" - Ben Sachs
IMDB
102
THE MIRROR
Zerkalo (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1974 / Soviet Union / 107 min / Color / Biography, Drama
Margarita Terekhova, Oleg Yankovskiy, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev, Nikolay Grinko, Alla Demidova, Yuriy Nazarov, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Larisa Tarkovskaya
"[With this film, there's a sense that] one has been given privileged insight not only into Tarkovsky the man but Tarkovsky the artist; for Mirror is not only the most autobiographical of all his works, it is also the film that most succinctly recapitulates the filmmaker’s aesthetic: his belief that cinema is, first and foremost, a medium of time, a medium that allows both artist and viewer to come to terms with the force of time and its role in the constitution of subjectivity." - Sam Ishii-Gonzales
IMDB
Zerkalo (original title)
Andrei Tarkovsky
1974 / Soviet Union / 107 min / Color / Biography, Drama
Margarita Terekhova, Oleg Yankovskiy, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev, Nikolay Grinko, Alla Demidova, Yuriy Nazarov, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Larisa Tarkovskaya
"[With this film, there's a sense that] one has been given privileged insight not only into Tarkovsky the man but Tarkovsky the artist; for Mirror is not only the most autobiographical of all his works, it is also the film that most succinctly recapitulates the filmmaker’s aesthetic: his belief that cinema is, first and foremost, a medium of time, a medium that allows both artist and viewer to come to terms with the force of time and its role in the constitution of subjectivity." - Sam Ishii-Gonzales
IMDB
101
FLOATING WEEDS
Yasujirō Ozu
1959 / Japan / 119 min / Color / Drama
Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Haruko Sugimura, Hitomi Nozoe, Chishû Ryû, Kôji Mitsui
"For me, “Floating Weeds” (1959) is like a familiar piece of music that I can turn to for reassurance and consolation. It is so atmospheric--so evocative of a quiet fishing village during a hot and muggy summer--that it envelops me. Its characters are like neighbors. It isn't a sad story; the central character is an actor with a healthy ego, who has tried to arrange his life according to his own liking and finds to his amazement that other people have wills of their own. He is funny, wrong-headed and finally touching." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
Yasujirō Ozu
1959 / Japan / 119 min / Color / Drama
Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Haruko Sugimura, Hitomi Nozoe, Chishû Ryû, Kôji Mitsui
"For me, “Floating Weeds” (1959) is like a familiar piece of music that I can turn to for reassurance and consolation. It is so atmospheric--so evocative of a quiet fishing village during a hot and muggy summer--that it envelops me. Its characters are like neighbors. It isn't a sad story; the central character is an actor with a healthy ego, who has tried to arrange his life according to his own liking and finds to his amazement that other people have wills of their own. He is funny, wrong-headed and finally touching." - Roger Ebert
IMDB
